The NHL has announced that they have suspended New York Islanders rookie forward Maxim Tsyplakov for 3 games for his illegal check to the head of Philadelphia Flyers forward Ryan Poehling.
During the first period of Thursday’s contest, Poehling made a move towards the front of the net while shorthanded before he was steamrolled by Tsyplakov. The Islanders rookie made contact with Poehling’s head with an apparent shoulder and despite a review initiated by the referees, they not only deemed that it wasn’t worthy of a 5-minute major but they ruled no penalty would be called at all.
The Flyers were very angry with the play as evidenced by John Tortorella’s words with the referees, Joel Farabee’s slashing minor against Tsyplakov right after, and Scott Laughton’s cross-checking minor near the end of the game that resulted in a goal against and a subsequent fine from the NHL.
The NHL Department of Player Safety summarized that it was an illegal check to the head, Poehling suffered an injury on the play, and Tsyplakov has no prior suspensions or fines.
“Tsyplakov finishes a high, hard check that cuts across the front of his body, making his head the main point of contact on a hit where such head contact was avoidable. This is an illegal check to the head. Both elements of the illegal check to the head rule are satisfied on this play. First the head is the main point of contact … second the head contact on this check is avoidable … instead Tsyplakov chooses an angle of approach that cuts in front of Poehling’s core and makes the head the main point of contact.”
Poehling was on the ice for quite some time before he left with the help from the training staff and was subsequently ruled out for the rest of the game. Tortorella already announced he would miss tomorrow’s contest and Olle Lycksell would take his place in the lineup. Tsyplakov will miss the next 3 games, which includes a rematch against the Flyers on January 24th.
Poehling has 4 goals and 15 points in 43 games this season, an even plus-minus, 13:18 ATOI, 51.2% success rate in the faceoff dot, and 51 blocked shots to 17 hits. Meanwhile, Tsyplakov is expected to appeal the decision and while he can’t play while appealing, it is generally done in the instance of reducing the number of games.
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