The league suspended Drew Doughty for one game for this hit on William Carrier last night:



This is how the NHL explained the suspension:

"Doughty delivers a high, forceful hit that makes Carrier's head the main point of contact on a hit where such head contact was avoidable. This is an illegal check to the head."

"The illegal check to the head rule does not take into account what the first point of contact is."

"The brunt of the impact of the hit is delivered to Carrier's head."

"The head contact on this hit is avoidable."

"Doughty takes a poor angle of approach that makes Carrier's head the main point of contact."

"While Carrier moves slightly toward the middle of the ice, he does not materially change the position of his body or head immediately prior to this hit in a way that significantly contributed to the head being the main point of contact."

"If Doughty wishes to deliver this check, he must take an angle of approach that hits through the core of Carrier rather than one that makes the head the main point of contact."

While I thought the hit was borderline, in the context of making NHL safer, suspending Doughty can be seen as a powerful statement by the NHL that head shots of any variety will not be tolerated. If this gets a suspension, you better be careful when following through with any hit

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) April 12, 2018

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Game recap coming tonight; see why last night's 1-0 Vegas victory might put the West on notice.

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