NHL hands Kings’ Dustin Brown 2-game suspension for elbowing Jason Pominville
Los Angeles Kings captain Dustin Brown's regular season is over.
With two games left before the playoffs, the Kings will be without Brown as they fight for the Western Conference's No. 4 seed after he was suspended Wednesday by the NHL for elbowing Minnesota Wild forward Jason Pominville in the head:
From the NHL:
Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Brown will forfeit $34,324.32. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
As Brendan Shanahan notes, Brown could have attempted to protect the puck along the boards with cleaner contact. Getting his elbow up while being aware Pominville coming toward him is what makes this suspendable. Initiating contact is fine, but pretending you're Gordie Howe and getting connecting your elbow with a face is why Brown will sit for two games.
The Wild finish their season Friday at home versus Edmonton and Saturday on the road in Colorado. They're two points ahead of Columbus for the seventh seed, but losing Pominville for any period of time would be a huge blow. He's played well of late record nine points in 10 games.
After the game, Brown told Mike Russo of the Star Tribune that he was bracing himself to be hit by Pominville. Russo reports Wednesday that the Wild forward is "day-to-day" with an upper-body injury.
Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy
