I can’t believe that the referee and the linesman missed this elbow. What on Earth were they watching? This was a dirty hit and Capitals defenseman John Erskine was clearly targeting Wayne Simmonds head.
After missing the puck, Erskine threw out an elbow to slow down Simmonds, who would have taken the puck down the ice on an odd-man rush and had a sure scoring chance. The NHL has been cracking down on hits to the head, yet this was blatantly missed by the referee. Even the linesman could have blown the play dead and called a major penalty on the play. Erskine’s hit will certainly be reviewed by Brendan Shanahan and I’m guessing a suspension will be coming. Simmonds bloodied his nose on the play and didn’t return to the game.
In this article:
