Days after former Boston Bruin Connor Clifton earned a suspension for an illegal check to the head, current Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy appears to be headed for the same fate. On Tuesday morning the NHL Department of Player Safety announced that McAvoy will have a hearing for an illegal check to the head and interference on Florida Panthers defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
The incident happened halfway through the third period of Boston’s 3-2 overtime win Monday night. McAvoy ventured deep into Florida’s zone and hammered Ekman-Larsson with a blindside hit after Ekman-Larsson attempted to play a bouncing puck.
The play earned McAvoy a five-minute match penalty. It drew the ire of the NHL DOPS for two reasons: (a) the principal point of contact was Ekman-Larsson’s head and (b) the hit was late enough to qualify as interference.
McAvoy, 25, could be looking at a multi-game ban after the example set with Clifton’s suspension last week. McAvoy has been suspended once before in his career. It was in 2019, meaning he’s not technically a repeat offender as he doesn’t have two infractions within an 18-month window, but the previous suspension was for an illegal check to the head. The DOPS will undoubtedly take into consideration the fact McAvoy has repeated the same dangerous behavior in the past. Ekman-Larsson is still being evaluated for a head injury. If the misses time as a result, that can factor into McAvoy’s suspension length. An injury only impacts a sentence if the DOPS has decided a play warrants a suspension. Given McAvoy has a hearing, that is in all likelihood the case, so Ekman-Larsson’s status could impact the ban.
McAvoy was enjoying the best start of his career. He’d compiled two goals and eight points in nine games while averaging 23:53 of ice time. The Bruins, leading the Eastern Conference with an 8-0-1 record, have outscored opponents 9-3 with McAvoy on the ice at 5-on-5 this season.
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