The NHL department of player safety has announced that Montreal Canadiens forward Josh Anderson will be suspended two games for boarding Alex Pietrangelo during Saturday night’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Montreal’s Josh Anderson has been suspended for two games for Boarding Vegas’ Alex Pietrangelo. https://t.co/DYZIsbU607
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) November 7, 2022
The play occurred during the third period, and Anderson was ejected from the game after being assessed a five-minute major as well as a misconduct.
Pietrangelo was fine, and got up right away, but Josh Anderson might get a call about this. pic.twitter.com/yvBmg23xeP
— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) November 6, 2022
It seemed clear at the time, with the hit being delivered directly to the numbers on Pietrangelo, that at the very least a fine would be forthcoming. Hits like this are very dangerous, and while the recipient was able to bounce right back up and go after Anderson, a suspension is fair as the league can’t tolerate such hits.
This means the Canadiens will have to make some lineup decisions ahead of Tuesday’s game. Juraj Slafkovsky has reached his nine-game limit before the first year of his ELC will be burned, and this could potentially cause them to keep the rookie around for the time being unless they have other plans.
