Player Safety rules on the Milan Lucic hit on Oilers G Mike Smith
After a chaotic turn of events during the third period of Sunday's Game 3 between the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers that saw Flames forward Milan Lucic appear to rock Oilers goaltender Mike Smith behind the Edmonton goal, Lucic was handed a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for charging.
At full speed, the play looks pretty damning, but slowed down, you can see that Lucic put on the breaks in an attempt to try to avoid the hit, or at the very least, take a lot off of it. Flames head coach Darryl Sutter put it best after the game when he said "They called it charging, correct? Could you imagine if Looch did charge?" You can see the play below.
Some were of the mindset that Lucic would be facing supplemental discipline for the play, but as ESPN's Emily Kaplan has reported, Player Safety will not offer Lucic a hearing as a result of the play.
It might be an unpopular decision if you're an Oilers fan, but it is absolutely the right call. Lucic did slow up significantly, and while there was contact made, it was obviously not with the intent to injure. At the very most, it's goalie interference, and Lucic was issued a 5-minute major and a game misconduct on the play.
| POLL | ||
MAI 23 | 402 ANSWERS Player Safety rules on the Milan Lucic hit on Oilers G Mike Smith Did Lucic deserve a suspension for his hit on Smith? | ||
| No | 211 | 52.5 % |
| Yes | 191 | 47.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
