Over the past couple of days, Martin St. Louis has spoken at length about the “fine line” faced by players who show the same amount of intensity as Brendan Gallagher. The striker crossed this line on Thursday against the New York Islanders.
The NHL Department of Player Safety imposed a five-game suspension on the 31-year-old winger on Friday. This is the first suspension in his career of more than 700 matches.
In the third period, Gallagher received a huge penalty kick after elbowing Adam Pelesh in the head. The defender had just crossed his blue line and cleared the puck when the collision occurred. Bielik, who never saw his attacker arrive, remained on the ground for a long time and left the meeting. Gallagher was immediately sent off and his team were forced to defend one man for five minutes.
In a video posted on the NHL's website, Stephane Quintal, vice president of player safety, explains in French the decision that was made.
“Gallagher chose to adopt an approach angle that directed him toward the front of Bellick's body,” he said. Realizing he might miss the check, and in an attempt to connect with Bilic, Gallagher raises his elbow and extends upward, aiming hard at the head. »
“If Gallagher wants to apply this check,” Quintal continues, “he needs to stay low and adopt a striking angle that will strike Billick’s shoulder and torso rather than strike him.” [l’angle] Which made the head the main focal point for communication. »
To justify the suspension, the League confirmed that what happened was a blow to the head, that the contact could have been avoided and that Bielik was injured during the match. However, we qualify by emphasizing Gallagher's almost spotless disciplinary history – with only one fine handed out since arriving at the team. Circle. We do not know at the moment whether the Canadian winger will appeal this punishment.
Canadian coach Martin St. Louis did not want to comment on the situation on Friday morning, although the ruling had not yet been announced at that time.
Since the Habs' game Saturday in Pittsburgh will be their last before taking advantage of a week off, Gallagher will not play again until Feb. 15 against the New York Rangers.
This is the third suspension imposed this season after suffering a blow to the head. Connor Clifton of the Buffalo Sabres was forced to miss two games after hitting Nico Hischier of the New Jersey Devils. Then Charlie McAvoy of the Boston Bruins went to the stands to contemplate a four-game suspension for a charge against Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the Florida Panthers.
In McAvoy's case, the justification was the same as for Gallagher, but it was also said that the defender had already received a suspension for similar offenses in the past. McAvoy appealed the decision, but league commissioner Gary Bettman upheld the initial ruling.
This suspension is also the most severe imposed on a Canadian player since Max Domi was also penalized for five games in 2018. During a preseason game, Domi punched Panthers' Aaron Ekblad in the face for Florida, while he refused to participate in the game. fighting. He was excluded from the rest of the preparatory schedule, which consisted of five matches.
In April 2013, Ryan White also had to serve a five-match ban for a headbutt. His victim at the time was Kent Hoskins of the Philadelphia Flyers.
Three of seven for Allen
Photo: David Kerouac, USA TODAY SPORTS
Jake Allen
The starting rate given to Jake Allen has dropped significantly in recent weeks. In 20 appearances for the Chilean national team since December 13, the veteran has been sent in front of the net only 5 times. However, in Pittsburgh this Saturday, Allen will have 3H Starts in 7 matches. In his last two games, he was a key part of his club's 4-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche, but had a bad night in a 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators. If we go by the trends of the last few weeks, we think Samuel Montembault will still be in the lead after he was brilliant on Thursday, or even what we call Caiden Primeau. Are we trying to give Allen a good time to convince another team to get him? Maybe yes and maybe no.
Newhook on skis
Photo by Dominique Gravelle, Press Archive
Alex Newhook
For the second time in two days, Alex Newhook skated before his teammates practiced on Friday. However, this was the first time he had done so at full capacity. He worked for about half an hour with director of hockey development Adam Nicholas, who spared no effort. After Newhook sprained his ankle on November 30, the organization announced he would be out of action for 10 to 12 weeks. If this timeline is respected, he will return to action around mid-February. Otherwise, Jake Evans, David Savard and Sean Monahan all missed Friday's practice to undergo “treatments.” This is the second time in a row that Savard has skipped his role, and the third time in ten days in Monahan's case.
Xhekaj makes his mistake
Photo by Martin Tremblay, Press
Arber Shikaj and Matthew Barzal
After getting two penalties Thursday against the New York Islanders, Arbor. Xhekaj explained that he wanted to apologize for his lack of discipline the day before. He added: “There was no reason to receive such penalties.” We were 3-0 up and controlled the game. I wanted to break the abscess with the trainers. I know they were angry and they were right. I wanted to remind Martin that I care about this team. » For his part, Saint Louis did not want to be too harsh on his defender, at least in front of the cameras. While noting that Xhekaj, like all players in the team, must be aware of the situation in the match when he performs certain actions, St. Louis also pointed out the importance of not misrepresenting the player. “He's a player that's always going to play to his limits, but you don't want to take that away from him,” St. Louis said. Reminds me of a player like… [Joel] Jeremiah. He is punished for his actions with his cane, but how often does he win with the puck? You have to be careful not to tie up their assets. »
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