Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl has escaped supplemental discipline for his hit on Aleksander Barkov that knocked the Florida Panthers‘ captain out of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the only punishment coming from the NHL Department of Player Safety following the Panthers’ 4-1 win will be a fine to Sam Carrick of the Oilers for slashing Panthers’ defenseman Dmitry Kulikov.
Barkov exited the game with 9:28 remaining in the third period after taking a high hit from Draisaitl. Barkov did not return to the game, which saw the Panthers take a 2-0 series lead.
Draisaitl was given a two-minute roughing minor.
Afterward, Draisaitl said he didn’t see anything illegal in the play — at least anything that warranted supplemental discipline
“I don’t think that’s frustration. It was just a hit. I don’t think there’s anything dirty about it. Maybe I got him a little high. Certainly not with intent to injure, though, or anything like that,” Draisaitl said.
The DoPS did not view Draisaitl’s hit as predatory with an intent to injure, according to ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski,
Draisaitl has never been suspended and has only received two fines in his NHL career.
Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said on Tuesday that Barkov “wasn’t worse, so that’s a really good thing.”
Barkov will be evaluated again on Wednesday, one day before the series resumes for Game 3 in Edmonton (8 p.m. ET; ABC).
“We had some things that needed to be looked at today that got looked at,” Maurice said. “There’s nothing sinister there. He kind of passed that. He felt better today. Feels good. But you’ve got to give it another 24 hours to make sure that he feels strong.”
Barkov missed only nine games during the regular season and has been involved in every Panthers game this postseason. He has six goals and 19 points in 19 games for Florida.