Alex Pietrangelo of the Golden Knights got away with one of the most vicious and blatant attempts to injure in NHL history last week. In the dying seconds of an Oilers victory in game 4 of the Western Conference semi-final series, Pietrangelo tomahawked Leon Draisaitl across the arms with his hockey stick. And, when I say tomahawked, I mean he raised his stick above his head and swung it with all of his might into Draisaitl's wrists and forearms.
The punishment for the slash? A measly one-game suspension issued by NHL's Department of Player Safety. The decision was universally mocked and condemned by everyone in hockey. The league chose to ignore "player safety" in order to avoid having too much of an impact on the series by removing one of Las Vegas' best players from the series for an extended period of time. It was what athletes refer to as a chicken shit move.
The Golden Knights went on to eliminate the Oilers from the playoffs on Sunday night. It was another disappointment for Edmonton as Draisaitl and Connor McDavid failed to deliver in the playoffs...again.
Whether or not the league's decision to suspend Pietrangelo for just one game affected the result of the series is a debate that will rage on. Some people will say that if Edmonton couldn't beat the Golden Knights with their full lineup then they didn't deserve to move on to the next round.
But what if Pietrangelo's hack was more than just an act of frustration. What if he injured Draisaitl and, in addition to getting away with missing just one game, he knocked Edmonton's top scorer out of the series?
Before the slash, Draisaitl led the playoffs in scoring with 17 points in nine games played, including six points in the first two games of the Vegas series. After the slash he was held to a single point and had a plus/minus rating of -5. Draisaitl disappeared from the series.
And he wasn't very happy about it.Let's say it turns out that Pietrangelo did injure Draisaitl and the NHL did nothing about it, there could be some players on the Oilers that might decide to take matters into their own hands. What if Evander Kane or Vincent Deharnais decide, during a meaningless regular season game next season, that they want to get some payback. Revenge is ingrained in the DNA of hockey players who have done crazier things in the past.
Remember Todd Bertuzzi and Steve Moore? How about Marty McSorley and Donald Brashear? And the real oldies will remember Eddie Shore and Ace Bailey.
Whose fault will it be if it happens again?
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