The Department of Player Safety has decided on a two-game suspension for Vegas Golden Knights forward Ryan Reaves. The suspension comes after Reaves was given a match penalty Sunday night for his actions in the third period, kneeling on the head of Colorado Avalanche defenseman Ryan Graves. As the accompanying passage explains:
It is important to note that this incident is retaliation for an earlier hit that Graves threw on Golden Knights’ forward Mattias Janmark, which knocked Janmark from the game. Reaves and the Golden Knights acknowledge that, angered by the earlier hit, he takes this opportunity to send a message to Graves as payback. And while some of the actions taken by Reaves could be sufficiently penalized by the on-ice officials, the totality of Reaves’ actions, combined with the game situation and the retribution involved in the play, necessitates supplementary discipline.
Reaves has been suspended twice before, with the latest coming in late-2020. He has also earned two fines, meaning there were four previous incidents considered for this discipline. Graves did not suffer a serious injury on the play.
With the Golden Knights down after Game 1 in the series, they’ll have to find someone else to add the physicality that Reaves brings. He’ll miss the next two while serving this latest ban.
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