Washington Capitals defenceman Brooks Orpik’s elbow on Olli Maatta will be reviewed by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety. A hearing has been arranged for Sunday.
Orpik hammered the Pittsburgh Penguins blue-liner with a late hit to the head early in the first period of Game 2 Saturday.
Orpik was assessed two minutes for interference on the play, while a woozy Maatta was assisted to the dressing room and did not return to the game.
So far in the series, the Capitals have been the more physical team. Tom Wilson was fined for a flagrant knee on Conor Sheary in Game 1 Thursday.
Maatta, meanwhile, might be out for the next game.
There were two suspensions in the first round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs where, ironically, it was Capitals players who were victims. Philadelphia Flyers’ Pierre-Edouard Bellemare was suspended one game for hitting Dmitry Orlov from behind and Brayden Schenn got three games for charging T.J. Oshie.
Orpik was suspended three games in 2006 for a hit on Erik Cole that resulted in Cole suffering two fractured vertebrae in his neck.