Zach Hyman drew the ire of numerous Boston Bruins for his hit on Charlie McAvoy, and it appears the NHL wasn’t too happy with the Toronto Maple Leafs winger’s actions, either.
During the B’s 6-3 thumping of the Leafs on Saturday, Hyman put a late, high hit on McAvoy while down four with less than 10 minutes left in the game. The hit sent the B’s defenseman to the ice, and resulted in him leaving the game for a few minutes. Hyman was assessed a game misconduct for what was ruled to be interference.
(You can click here to see the hit from three different angles.)
And though some in the Toronto media thought the hit was fine, the league’s Department of Player Safety whacked Hyman with a two-game ban for the play.
Even though it’s not a factor that goes into determining the punishment, it’s worth noting the hit happened while McAvoy was playing in his second game since missing 20 contests with a concussion. McAvoy was, however, in the lineup for the Bruins’ tilt against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday.
Last spring, fellow Leaf Nazem Kadri was hit with a three-game suspension for boarding Tommy Wingels during the first round of the playoffs.
