David Pastrnak suspended two games for high hit on Dan Girardi

Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak faces a two game suspension after an illegal check to the head of Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi. 

The Boston Bruins have had quite a bit of success to start their season. A huge part of it has been the stellar play of second year forward David Pastrnak. They will be losing him for the next two games though, as Pastrnak has been suspended for two games after an illegal hit to the head of Dan Girardi. The incident occurred during Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers.

As the video indicates, Pastrnak makes Girardi’s head the principal point of contact. The league notes Pastrnak could have easily avoided head contact. Even though Girardi was eligible to be checked on the play, the Bruins forward makes very little effort to avoid hitting Girardi high. The Rangers defenseman didn’t move his head much throughout the process.

Even though Girardi was able to come back into the game and didn’t suffer an injury, the NHL has begun to crack down on hits to the head. This is the first time Pastrnak has faced supplementary discipline. Hopefully the NHL continues to be aggressive and stern when disciplining high hits.

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Pastrnak has five goals and three assists for eight points through his first seven games of the season. He has been playing alongside Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand on the Bruins’ first forward line. Expect David Backes to step up and replace Pastrnak on the first line. Backes was on the Bruins’ first line while Bergeron was injured. He showed impressive chemistry with Marchand in a small sample size.

Boston will not have Pastrnak for Saturday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings and Tuesday’s game against the Florida Panthers.