Calgary Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson has been suspended four games for his hit on Columbus Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine, the NHL's Department of Player Safety announced on Saturday.
Andersson was assessed a match penalty after he caught Laine up high with a hit in the dying seconds of Friday's game as the Blue Jackets forward tried to score on an empty net. Laine was slow to get up.
After the game, which Columbus won 3-1, Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent said the hit from Andersson was definitely late and should hopefully lead to future discipline from the league.
Laine did not travel with the team and will not play in Saturday's game against the Minnesota Wild. The team announced he will continue to be evaluated and is considered day-to-day.
"I see a hit to the head and (Andersson) lifting his feet," Vincent said after the game. "I saw the replay. That’s illegal in my book. So we’ll let the NHL deal with it."
The Blue Jackets are scheduled to play the Wild in St. Paul, Minn., which can be seen on Sportsnet+ at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.
COMMENTS
When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.