Preds winger delivers dangerous blindside hit on Leafs forward; there was no penalty on the play, but a suspension is likely
The Nashville Predators were in Toronto on Wednesday to take on the Leafs and during the 3rd period of what was a tight, competitive game, Preds winger Nino Niederreiter was responsible for a brutal head shot on Leafs pivot David Kampf in the neutral zone that left Kampf shaken up. Unfortunately, since the officials didn't see it, there was no penalty called on the play.
In the clip below, you'll see Kampf preparing to defend the rushing forward while Niederreiter cuts across to run a bit of a pick. Intentional or not, Niederreiter catches Kampf high, clearly in the head. As the player coming in from the blind side, it was Niederreiter's responsibility to do everything in his power to avoid making contact with Kampf, but obviously, he does not.
Kampf was pulled off by the concussion spotters after the play and was taken off the Leafs' bench and escorted to the quiet room to be evaluated for a possible concussion. It was the right move by the spotters to place Kampf in protocol, but he sure wasn't happy about it - especially because the Leafs were on the penalty kill. Kampf is one of the team's primary PK forwards.
One has to think that the league is going to take a look at this one. Neither Kampf nor Niederreiter is the puck carrier and the contact was 100% avoidable. Not only that, but the main point of contact was the head. These are the types of hits that the league is trying to eliminate and I'd be shocked if we didn't see some form of supplemental discipline announced for Niederreiter on Thursday.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 11 | 328 ANSWERS Preds winger delivers dangerous blindside hit on Leafs forward; there was no penalty on the play, but a suspension is likely How many games does Nino Niederreiter deserve to be suspended for following his nasty head shot on David Kampf? | ||
| 1-2 | 143 | 43.6 % |
| 3-4 | 94 | 28.7 % |
| 5+ | 48 | 14.6 % |
| None | 43 | 13.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
