The Detroit Red Wings may be forced to play Game 7 without their best defenceman.
Niklas Kronwall has a phone hearing with the NHL’s department of player safety Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET and could face a suspension for his hit to the head of Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov.
In the second period of Detroit’s Game 6 loss to Tampa Bay, Kronwall laid out Kucherov with a big hit that on replay showed forearm-to-head contact. (Watch the play above.)
“I thought it was a clean hit at the time,” Kronwall told reporters Monday.
Detroit coach Mike Babcock told reporters Tuesday he was surprised a hearing was called.
Yet the league is reviewing the check as charging and/or an illegal check to the head.
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Referees Dave Jackson and Steve Kozari did not call a minor penalty on the play. Kucherov left the game but returned for the third period and said he was fine.
“It’s a hit,” Kucherov said. “I’m not going to cry now. It’s part of the game. That’s why we play here.”
Lightning coach Jon Cooper said he didn’t see Kronwall’s hit on Kucherov because of where it happened on the ice.
“The refs didn’t call a penalty so it must’ve been OK,” Cooper said.
The six-foot, 194-pound Kronwall has a reputation as a ferocious hitter but has never been suspended in his NHL career.
There have been no suspensions so far in the playoffs, but the league has handed out a first-round suspension in each of the last four years.
Game 7 takes place Wednesday night at Amalie Arena in Tampa.
Because Kronwall’s hearing takes place via phone, his suspension cannot exceed five games.
(with files from AP)
