Colorado Avalanche defenceman Erik Johnson’s night ended early Friday after he was assessed an elbowing major and a match penalty for a hit on St. Louis Blues forward Alex Steen.
It was a physical contest between the Central Division rivals and tempers flared when Johnson caught Steen early in the second period.
As you can see in the video at the top of the page, Johnson followed through on a body check as Steen ripped a wrist shot that was stopped by Semyon Varlamov.
Even though it appears Johnson’s right elbow was tucked when he made contact with Steen, who had lowered his level while taking his shot, Johnson was called for an elbow and tossed from the game.
A scrum ensued and Blues defenceman Joel Edmundson received a roughing minor. Johnson’s five-minute penalty was served by Sven Andrighetto. Once Edmundson’s penalty expired the Avalanche were able to kill off the remaining three minutes of power-play time.
Johnson, 30, has been suspended once in his NHL career when he was given two games for a slash on former New York Islanders forward Frans Nielsen in 2014.
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