The New York Islanders came away losers 5-3 to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night, and now, that loss is about to become even more costly for them.
During the game, rookie forward Maxim Tsyplakov laid a huge hit on Philly's Ryan Poehling, and despite how brutal the play looked, in both regular speed and slow motion, the officials came together and determined that there was no penalty on the play.
However, the league has had something to say about that, as they have now officially handed down their ruling on the 26-year-old, and it could cost the Islanders in a big way.
As announced by the NHL's Department of Player Safety on social media, Tsyplakov will now miss the Islanders' next three games after being handed a three-game suspension, the first in his young NHL career thus far.
Unsurprisingly, fans on social media were very split, although the majority did not agree with the NHL's decision, as most were shocked that Tsyplakov was even being reviewed for a penalty on the play.
Given that just yesterday, Connor McDavid escaped without even a fine for an elbow that has now sent Marcus Johansson to the Injured Reserve, it's yet another example of the inconsistency that has plagued the NHL's Department of Player Safety for quite some time, as they continue to draw immense criticism.
Ultimately though, the decision is now final, with the struggling Islanders to miss a very productive forward for their next three games, and if things don't improve on Long Island in the near future, it's safe to say that they could be sellers at the 2025 NHL trade deadline.
POLL | ||
Was this the right call from the NHL's Department of Player Safety? | ||
Yes | 74 | 66.1 % |
No | 38 | 33.9 % |
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