Marcus Johansson has been suspended two games by the NHL for an illegal check to the head of New York Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey during the Washington Capitals’ 4-1 road victory on Thursday.
Johansson, who had a hearing with the league’s department of player safety on Friday afternoon, will miss the Capitals’ game at the New York Rangers on Saturday and their home game against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday. It is the first discipline, in terms of a fine or suspension, Johansson has received in his previous 383 games.
The left wing was assessed a two-minute minor for the hit, which happened at 8:42 of the first period. Hickey intercepted a puck that was chipped off the half-wall by the Capitals’ Jason Chimera, and as he began to change direction at the red line, he passed the puck to a teammate in the attacking zone.
Johansson arrived moments later and appeared to hit Hickey in the head and neck with his left shoulder.
“Johansson extends upward, delivering a blow directly to the head of Hickey,” Patrick Burke, the league’s director of player safety, said in a video outlining the discipline. “This extension makes the head the main point of contact on a hit where head contact is avoidable. … Rather than hitting squarely through his opponent’s body, Johansson extends his body unnecessarily upward and makes Hickey’s head the main point of contact.”
“And, while Hickey is low to the ice as he steps up, he does not materially change the position of his head just prior to or simultaneously with contact.”
The Capitals recalled Paul Carey from the Hershey Bears on Friday afternoon, foreshadowing the league’s decision, and also signed center Mike Richards on Wednesday.
By the terms of the suspension, which is unpaid, Johansson will forfeit $40,322.58.
• Zac Boyer can be reached at zboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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