Seattle Kraken forward Yanni Gourde has been given a two-game suspension for charging Edmonton Oilers‘ Mattias Ekholm.
The incident happened late in the third of Friday’s game, after the Oilers had scored three unanswered goals to erase a two-goal deficit and take the lead, as Ekholm retrieved a puck at the boards behind the net. With speed, Gourde landed a heavy hit on the forecheck, stunning Ekholm momentarily.
Following a scrum, Gourde was assessed a five-minute major penalty on the play.
“I didn’t love the hit,” Ekholm told reporters after the game. “I don’t think you should ever jump into a hit, I think he jumped right at my face and I was just the recipient of it more than anything.”
Gourde has been suspended once in his career, also for two games, after delivering an illegal check to the head to Jordan Staal in 2019.
He will be eligible to return Jan. 26 against the visiting St. Louis Blues.