Will Brandon Prust's late headshot on Derek Stepan lead to suspension? (Video)
Brandon Prust may have gotten away with a penalty early in Thursday's Game 3 between the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers, and by may have gotten, we mean most certainly did get.
As the Rangers started a breakout from behind their net, Derek Stepan took the outlet pass, banked it off the boards and into the neutral zone, cut into the middle of the ice, and was crushed on a late hit by the Canadiens' agitator:
Whole lotta tugboats there. That's a late, late, late hit.
It's to the head, at that. One wonders if Prust will be available for Game 4, or if the Department of Player Safety will correct the officials' mistake and dish out some supplemental discipline.
Stepan stayed down and out for quite awhile before leaving for the quiet room, which magically healed him in seconds flat. He was back shortly thereafter, because they serve vampire blood in the quiet room -- it should really be named the vampire blood room.
The hit sparked the first fight of the Conference Finals, with Derek Dorsett taking disciplinary matters into his hands and challenging Prust. Meanwhile, for no reason whatsoever, Daniel Carcillo got into it with the linesman. He may have been testing his theory that, after missing the Stepan hit, the officials' wouldn't know a penalty unless it hit them between the eyes.
Not so. Carcillo got the linesman in the shoulder. But that was enough for him to be thrown out of the game.
