Flames forward Connor Zary has been slapped with a two-game suspension for what the NHL’s Department of Player Safety described as a “late, high, retaliatory hit” on Vancouver Canucks defenceman Elias Pettersson.
Zary will miss Friday’s clash with the Colorado Avalanche and Monday’s matchup against the Maple Leafs in Toronto.
In the early stages of Wednesday’s crucial wild-card clash, Pettersson flattened Flames centre Nazem Kadri with an open-ice hit. That prompted an immediate reaction from Zary, with the 23-year-old lunging to land an elbow.
Pettersson played only two shifts afterward. The rookie blue-liner missed the second and third period as the Canucks rallied for a 4-3 shootout victory at the Saddledome.
“After the hit (on Kadri) and disregarding the rest of the play, Zary tracks Pettersson, raises his elbow and forearm and elevates upward into a check, striking Pettersson with the extended arm and making significant contact with Pettersson’s head,” the NHL’s Department of Player Safety explained in Thursday’s suspension video. “It is important to note this is not a case where a player’s sudden movements cause a hitter to reflexively extend an elbow in a way that turns a legal hit into an illegal one. On this play, Zary sees a teammate take a hard but legal check and responds intentionally in retribution by delivering a hit with his extended elbow that makes significant head contact and is delivered with requisite force for supplemental discipline.”
Zary, who has been trying to get up to speed since returning from a knee injury, has contributed 12 goals and 12 assists in 49 appearances as an NHL sophomore.
His first career suspension comes at a bad time for the Flames, as he was the leading candidate to be shifted to centre if Mikael Backlund is unavailable Friday due to an upper-body injury.
If Backlund is a no-go, the team will need to recall a forward from the AHL’s Wranglers.