Call on Hertl Hit Sets Dangerous Precedent Heading Into Playoffs

On Sunday night, Vegas Golden Knights forward Tomáš Hertl was injured in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped Hertl on a breakaway, and as Hertl went for the rebound, Lightning defenseman Emil Lilleberg sent him flying into the boards. Hertl got up, favoring his right arm, and went down the tunnel. He did not return to the game.

“[Hertl] has the breakaway there towards the end of the third period on Sunday night,” said Kyle Bukauskas on Monday’s episode of the 32 Thoughts Podcast. “First chance, save by Vasilevskiy, he’s going for the rebound, and Lilleberg on the backcheck, hands into the lower back of Hertl, and [he’s] tumbling into the boards.”

Initially, the officials called a five-minute major penalty on Lilleberg. Upon review, they reduced it to a two-minute minor. 

Why was it reduced?

“One of the things I always do is I check the rulebook first,” said Elliotte Friedman. “Looking at the rulebook here, boarding is rule number 41, and a minor penalty is basic. If you get a major penalty, which they initially gave to Lilleberg, a major is an automatic game misconduct… The one thing it says here is, ‘When a major penalty is imposed under this rule for an infraction resulting in injury to the face or head of an opponent, a game misconduct shall be imposed.’ Hertl, it’s the shoulder, so they didn’t have to give [Lilleberg] a game misconduct there since it wasn’t the face or head.”

Going by the rules, Friedman is correct. The play didn’t result in an injury to Hertl’s face or head; thus, the on-ice officials reduced the penalty to a minor.

However, Friedman is also correct in saying that this call sets a dangerous precedent going into the playoffs.

Dangerous Implications

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are less than a month away. The playoffs are typically riddled with controversial calls and non-calls, and reducing this hit from a major to a minor won’t help matters.

“Every call you make on the eve of the playoffs is magnified because everyone is looking at it. They’re looking at it and saying, ‘this is the way the playoffs are going to be played,” said Elliotte Friedman. “I look at [the Hertl hit], and I would have liked to see that stay a major.

“Especially on the eve of the playoffs, I look at a play like that– in the playoffs, everyone is going to be backchecking hard. I would look at a play like that, and I would say, ‘in this case, I want the major,” continued Friedman. “My only concern with this play is that coaches are going to be showing it to their players, and they’re saying, ‘look, this play happened. It was a hard backcheck, minor penalty. If you come back that hard and that play happens, we’ll kill that penalty. We want our guys to backcheck hard.’ And at this point in the season, especially in meaningful games, you don’t really need to convince players they need to do that.”

“I don’t think [Lilleberg] is trying to injure [Hertl],” finished Friedman. “I don’t necessarily think that the push is violent. But [Lilleberg] has got so much speed, and Hertl is kind of defenseless, and this is what can happen.”

If the threat of ejection isn’t looming large, plays like this will happen more often. When players are playing meaningful games, they’ll do whatever it takes to win. Like Friedman said, the play itself wasn’t a cheap shot, nor was it a violent shove. But it was reckless.

Bruce Cassidy’s Thoughts on the Hit

Following the Golden Knights’ 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday, head coach Bruce Cassidy spoke to the media. When asked for an update on Hertl’s status, Cassidy weighed in on Lilleberg’s “senseless” hit.

“The call is what it is,” said Cassidy. “[Lilleberg] is playing, I don’t know that well as a big guy, and he’s trying to establish himself in the league. But that’s a senseless hit to me. In a situation like that, when a guy’s in a defenseless position, not a threat, and the puck’s in the corner. It’s unfortunate for us, and hopefully [Hertl] is fine, but we won’t know that right away… We’re hitting the road; we’ll know more once we get [to Minnesota].”

Hertl leads the Golden Knights in goals (31) and power play goals (14). He’s third on the team in scoring with 59 points. Hertl is invaluable to the Golden Knights, and they’ll undoubtedly struggle should he miss any length of time.

“[Hertl] is playing some of the best hockey he’s probably played in his career,” finished Cassidy. “Hopefully he heals up quick.”

Hertl Injury Update 

“Bruce Cassidy said postgame that they were hoping for good news. I didn’t like what I was hearing on Sunday night,” Elliotte Friedman said. “Initially, the word wasn’t great; I’m just hoping that’s wrong. As Cassidy said, Hertl’s been playing great lately, and the Golden Knights look really good. That would be a major, major loss… I don’t know what to say here except that I heard they were a little bit concerned about it.”

The Golden Knights are traveling to Minnesota on Monday. According to head coach Bruce Cassidy, Hertl will be re-evaluated there. Cassidy was hopeful on Sunday night, but Friedman is rarely wrong.

“He’s getting evaluated now, and he’ll be re-evaluated again tomorrow,” said Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy postgame on Sunday night. “He was sore when he came off, so we’ll see. Maybe we’ll get good news tomorrow.”