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Dmitry Kulikov's Suspension Fate Confirmed After Dirty Headshot on Mitch Marner

Originally posted on House of Hockey | By Tom Banks | Last updated May 12, 2025 9:20 PM ET

Dmitry Kulikov has played a solid role for Florida in their series against Toronto, but now he's learned his fate after trying to take Mitch Marner's head off.

Through the four games played between Toronto and Florida thus far in this series, there has been absolute carnage, with fights, big hits and terrible incidents, and through it all, the series is now deadlocked at 2-2 as they head back to Toronto for a pivotal Game 5.

Unfortunately, several of those ugly incidents came in Game 4, with a hit from Max Domi ending off what was a disappointing loss for the Toronto Maple Leafs, although the team felt justified in this frustration.

Earlier in the game, Dmitry Kulikov gained plenty of heat on social media after he tried to take Mitch Marner's head off with a blatant elbow, with fans quickly calling out the dirty, unnecessary act.

Unsurprisingly, the officials missed a call as they have all throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but with the play attracting the attention of fans on social media, the belief was that the NHL's Department of Player Safety would get involved.

Now, we know the fate of the veteran defenseman, who will not miss any action in this key series after the DoPS chose to punish him for/ignore a clear head shot on an opponent that could have resulted in serious injury to Marner.

For quite some time, the DoPS has been under fire for their inconsistency, with Maple Leafs fans especially calling them out, and after so much action in Game 4, George Parros and his team had plenty on their hands.

Ultimately though, this play from Kulikov was incredibly unnecessary as he targeted Marner's head with his elbow, and with Game 5 set to take place in Toronto, it's safe to say that it's going to be a wild, pivotal game in this series.

This article first appeared on House of Hockey and was syndicated with permission.

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