PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Penguins were forced to finish their contest against the Winnipeg Jets down a forward after Noel Acciari was taken out by a high hit. Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon was given a match penalty for an illegal check to the head while Acciari was dazed as he stammered off the ice to the locker room.
Rather than resort to fights or a physical response, the Penguins made sure to keep a level head and retaliate on the scoreboard. With a five-minute power play chance, the Penguins scored twice to give themselves a 3-0 lead well into the second frame.
“Anytime you see something like that happen, you want to respond,” Kris Letang said. “You want to score one or a couple big goals for your teammate. You want to make them pay for the action they took.”
Dillon led with his shoulder into Acciari’s head knocking his helmet clean off before falling flat to the ice. It wasn’t the dirtiest hit that the NHL has seen, but there is likely going to be some sort of reaction from the Department of Player Safety.
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety doesn’t have the brightest of reputations when it comes to handing down punishments, but head coach Mike Sullivan is putting the ball in their court.
“We’ll allow the league to go through their process like they always do,” Sullivan said. “We can all have opinions on it, but at the end of the day, our opinions don’t really matter. Our major concern is Noel and his health.”
Sullivan made it clear that the health and well-being of Acciari will be the priority over calling for any kind of discipline. The Penguins believe they answered the best way they could; two goals on the way to a shutout win.
“You never want to see a guy go down like that,” Jake Guentzel said. “To get two goals, it’s the best way to go out and get back at them.”
Dillon has only been suspended by Player Safety once in his career in 2017 as a member of the San Jose Sharks.
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