No further discipline for Callahan after hit on Letang

Ryan Callahan may be in some trouble with Player Safety after this brutal hit to Kris Letang's head that saw the star defenceman leave the game.

PITTSBURGH – Ryan Callahan will not be disciplined further by the NHL’s department of player safety after receiving a boarding major on Kris Letang in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final.

The Tampa Bay Lightning winger hit the Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman from behind 2:50 into Friday’s game. Callahan has no history of supplemental discipline and served a five-minute major without being ejected.

Letang missed almost 10 minutes of game time while getting evaluated by the Penguins’ medical staff, but returned afterwards. The fact he was able to continue playing, plus the on-ice penalty, factored into the decision not to suspend Callahan.

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After the 3-1 loss, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan labelled it a hit from behind. But he didn’t seem overly upset by the NHL’s decision not to further punish Callahan a day later.

“I don’t have thoughts or observations,” Sullivan said Saturday on a conference call. “The NHL is going to do (its) job, we’re doing to do ours. We’re just going to play hockey.”

That has been a mantra he’s repeatedly stressed to his team throughout the playoffs.

The Penguins are a fast, skilled team that largely avoids physical confrontation. The Washington Capitals attempted to get Pittsburgh off its game last round by finishing a lot of body checks and Letang ended up serving a one-game suspension for throwing a late hit on Marcus Johansson.

If it were up to Sullivan, they would simply turn the other cheek.

He also declined to address the hit from Tampa’s Ondrej Palat that knocked Penguins defenceman Brian Dumoulin from the game late in the third period. There has been no update on Dumoulin’s status.

“I think it’s really important that our club focuses on playing hockey,” said Sullivan. “There are two teams out there that are playing emotional games, that are passionate, they’re trying to win. We’re all doing everything in our power to try to win the hockey game.

“We’re going to play, we’re going to let the referees do their job and we’re going to let the league do (its) job.”

Game 2 goes Monday at Consol Energy Center.

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