While just skating past each other near the blue line, Eichel delivered a random and vicious spear directly to the abdomen of Wild star forward Kirill Kaprizov.
The referees reviewed the penalty as it was assessed to be a major, and upon replay decided to eject Eichel for the horrible offence. Thankfully, Kaprizov was okay and not seriously injured by the play, but Eichel will still certainly be hearing from the league for this.
With Vegas still fighting to stay afloat in the playoff race even after making huge trades at the deadline, losing Eichel for any amount of time, especially to a suspension, is completely unacceptable. Currently, the Kings trail the Knights by only one point for the third spot in the Pacific division, with the St. Louis Blues getting hot and only six points away from a playoff berth.
Hopefully the league actually takes some decisive action to properly punish Eichel for this heinous play. Likely a 2 game suspension would be an appropriate decision to dissuade Eichel and any other player from trying this as we approach the playoffs.
POLL | ||
MARS 30 | 408 ANSWERS Jack Eichel ejected and facing long suspension for vicious spear How many games will Eichel be suspended? | ||
No suspension, no fine | 35 | 8.6 % |
Just a fine | 56 | 13.7 % |
1 game suspension | 67 | 16.4 % |
2+ game suspension | 250 | 61.3 % |
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