In the first period of last night's Maple Leafs game Leo Komarov threw a brutal elbow to the face of The Rangers' Ryan McDonagh. There's no way to sugar coat this hit. It was ugly, and not legal. Here is the video and evidence.
Komarov stuck his elbow out chicken wing style and fed it to McDonagh's face. This is the kind of play that can cause concussions, and even worse trauma. Komarov was ejected with a Match Penalty, which triggers an automatic review by league officials, though they would have certainly reviewed this without that prompt anyway.
We have seen Komarov walk the line very delicately in the past and almost always stay on the good side. He is perennially near the top of the NHL in hits, and is acknowledged as one of the best pests in the NHL. However what he did last night was over the line. A suspension is now in the cards.
Ray Ferraro agrees. Due to some kind of technical glitch last night we were able to see Ray Ferraro comment on the hit between periods, when he thought he was off camera.
He'll get three games or something.
Amusingly, Ferraro later found out he was being broadcast on the air and asked someone named 'Eddie' to turn it off saying "I'm gonna get in to trouble for this. For this one I am." I suspect Komarov was thinking the exact same thing while sitting in the dressing room after being expelled from the game.
This is of course not the first time Ferraro has been caught commenting colorfully on the game when he thought he was off camera.
We will update when we know more about what will happen to Leo. In the mean time, vote in our poll about what you think will happen.
Babcock many mad komrades. to janitor room i go also but no snacks or juice box. hope is get out before next tomorrow. #Leaf #oops
— Corporal Komarov (@CorporalKomarov) February 19, 2016
UPDATE: 10:00AM
Toronto's Leo Komarov will have a hearing today for elbowing/illegal check to the head on NY Rangers' Ryan McDonagh.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) February 19, 2016
How long a suspension will Komarov get for this hit?
None. Maybe a fine. It wasn't a big deal. | 29 |
1 game | 26 |
2 games | 74 |
3 games | 179 |
4 or 5 games | 118 |
More than 5 games | 57 |