According to Renaud Lavoie of RDS, Max Pacioretty will not be suspended or disciplined of any form for his hit on Ryan McDonagh during last night’s 3-0 defeat in Montreal. At this point Brendan Shannahan has not released his customary videos explaining his thought process to today’s events.

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Here’s what we know.

  • Pacioretty was suspended for 3 games last season for a hit to the head of Penguins’ Kris Letang. So he is not a first-time offender, which usually guarantees some sort of discipline be it a suspension or fine.
  • Pacioretty was driven into the boards in front of Montreal’s bench by Ryan McDonagh prior to the illegal hit. So one can call this a retaliatory hit, which also usually guarantees league discipline.
  • As evidence by the photo above, his skates left the ice to make this illegal hit, another wrinkle often cited in disciplinary actions.
  • As evidence by the video below, this is clearly a violation of the league’s expanded boarding rule that was created during the offseason. Colin McDonald on the Islanders, who laid a similar hit last month, was suspended 2 games under this new rule.
  • Most importantly, and although I disagree with the league’s weighting scheme here, McDonagh was injured and didn’t return to the game. In most disciplinary issues, injury plays a major role in the league’s thought process.

With the above bullets in mind, I am just baffled Max didn’t get suspended. I am looking forward to watching Shanahan’s explanation, which will be located here at some point.

P.S. Special thanks to big-time Rangers fan and social media extraordinaire, Stefanie Alva, for finding this photo. If you’re not following her on Twitter, make that correction now.

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