(Image Property of Kim Smith)

Early in the second period of last night’s 5-1 thumping that the Montreal Canadiens delivered to the Florida Panthers, Montreal forward Paul Byron was called for charging on a hit against Panther defenceman MacKenzie Weegar. Byron, who is not a repeat offender (this is his first suspension), received a two minute penalty last night, and the Panthers played the balance of the game with 5 defencemen.

Here is the video replay of the hit:

Weegar would not return as was noted, and that may have played into the amount of games that Byron received.

For a full explanation from the department of player safety, please click here for the breakdown.

The penalty fits the crime so to speak, as the principal point of contact was the head, and Byron left his feet (launched) to deliver the blow. The NHL has to eliminate plays like this, and suspensions are one way of doing so.

Byron did apologize for the play.

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