Martin Pospisil seems to keep getting himself in trouble.
The Calgary Flames center was ejected from Thursday night’s game against the Winnipeg Jets after elbowing defenseman Josh Morrissey in the head.
The incident occurred late in the second period of the game when Morrissey was making a breakout play. The Jets defenseman had just reached the neutral zone and made a pass when Pospisil went for the hit, leaving his feet and connecting his elbow with Morrissey’s head.
Morrissey did not appear to be hurt on the play and remained in the game to start the third period, while Pospisil was ejected with a five-minute major and a 10-minute game misconduct. Pospisil left the game with two shots, four hits and the 15 penalty minutes in 10:48 of ice time, with the Flames down 3-2 at the time of his departure. The Jets did not score on the ensuing five-minute power play from Pospisil’s penalty.
The incident comes almost a month after Pospisil was suspended for three games for boarding Vince Dunn on March 6th in a game against the Seattle Kraken. Considering that recent suspension, there’s a strong chance that Pospisil will serve another suspension for this play.
Pospisil is having a solid rookie season with the Flames with 8 goals and 12 assists for 20 points in 55 games. He also played 6 games for the Calgary Wranglers in the AHL this season, with 3 goals and 3 assists for 6 points in his time there.
The Zloven, Slovakia product was a fourth-round pick for the Flames in the 2018 NHL Draft, and has spent the entirety of his five-season professional career in the Flames organization, making his NHL debut this season.
Pospisil is currently on a one-year, $775,000 contract, and will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights in the 2024 offseason.
The Flames sat in sixth in the Pacific Division with a 34-35-5 record heading into Thursday’s game, with a loss to the Jets or a win from the Los Angeles Kings mathematically eliminating them from the playoffs. It’s the eighth-worst record in the league, so the Flames seem in line for a solid draft pick if they don’t work their way up that order in the final games of the season.
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