Hearing For Pastrnak After Hit on Girardi

Updated 10/28: The NHL has suspended David Pastrnak for two games for what the league calls “an illegal check to the head” of Dan Girardi following Wednesday night’s game.

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Well this was a pleasant surprise this morning. Most Rangers fans probably thought David Pastrnak’s questionable hit to the head of Dan Girardi last night deserved a suspension (or at least more than a 2-minute penalty) but I doubt many expected him to get it. But the Department of Player Safety announced that Pastrnak was indeed getting a phone call from the NHL:

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For those who missed, here’s the hit:

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So what exactly does the league have an issue with? The hearing is for “charging and an illegal hit to the head” so that gives us some clues. My guess is the following:

• First, Pastrnak clearly comes across the ice to hit Girardi. Depending on how the hit went, this could’ve just been a 2-minute charging penalty and then we never heard about it again.
• But Pastrnak left his feet and hit Girardi up high while he was reaching up. The “while he was reaching up” is important because Pastrnak would’ve needed to leap in some form to get him in the head in this instance. I’m still not positive if he left his feet to make the hit or the contact forced him up. Guessing because of the hearing, the NHL thinks he left his feet.
• Most importantly, whether he meant to or not, he hit him in the head. The NHL continues to pretend they care about that. If they want fans to believe they do, there needs to be something for these type of hits.

I know Pastrnak isn’t one of “those type of guys” but like a few on the Rangers, his reputation is slowly changing. I find it difficult to believe he’s innocent after the cheap cross-check he gave to Vesey right after the rookie scored the 5th goal last night. (Side note: Good on Vesey for hitting him back.)

Now it’s in the hands of our favorite disciplinarians. Guesses on what they decide? Three seems to be the magic number this year but I’m guessing two or less.

(Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)