Lightning’s Gourde suspended for hit on Hurricanes’ Staal

Tampa Bay Lightning's Yanni Gourde catches Carolina Hurricanes' Jordan Staal in the head with a questionable check. The Hurricanes' captain would leave the ice for concussion protocol while Gourde is handed a match penalty.

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Yanni Gourde received a two-game suspension for his illegal check to the head of Carolina Hurricanes veteran Jordan Staal.

The NHL’s department of player safety announced the supplemental discipline Friday following a hearing with the player. Gourde, a first-time offender, was ejected in the opening stanza of Thursday’s 6-3 Lightning victory after he clipped Staal with a direct shot to the head.

As you can see in the video at the top of the page, Staal was leaning forward while fending off Lightning blueliner Ryan Callahan when Gourde made contact.

Hurricanes defenceman Trevor van Riemsdyk came to the defence of Staal and it earned him a roughing minor that took two minutes off the five-minute power play the Hurricanes were due.

Staal has a history of documented concussions and even missed a huge chunk of this season recovering from one. The centre was assessed by his team’s medical staff before returning to the game later in the first period. He then scored his eighth goal of the season in the second.

The 27-year-old Gourde has 20 goals and 24 assists with a career-high 64 penalty minutes while averaging 15:45 of ice-time through 75 games this season.

Tampa Bay, which has already clinched the Presidents’ Trophy, will look to extend its current seven-game winning streak Saturday in St. Louis against the Blues.

[relatedlinks]

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.