Penguins’ Deryk Engelland ejected for head-shot on Justin Abdelkader; suspension coming?
In the first period of their game in Detroit, Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Deryk Engelland and Red Wings forward Justin Abdelkader chased a bouncing in puck in the neutral zone. Abdelkader got low to sweep the puck into the attacking zone with his stick. Engelland lined him up for a hit with his shoulder.
A hit that would connect with Abdelkader’s head, earning Engelland a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for an illegal check to the head.
Abdelkader didn’t return to the game.
Clearly, Engelland was trying to take out an attacking player on the play; it’ll be up to the NHL to determine if he intended to take him out with a hit to the head.
This feels like a 2-game suspension, but Engelland was given three for a head shot in 2011. So perhaps that factors into the Department of Player Safety’s ultimate ruling.
