Esa Lindell forgot he was skating on ice, slips and falls four times in loss to Blues

Esa Lindell put on a diving clinic in game 3 of the Dallas Stars vs. St. Louis Blues series and it was downright embarrassing to all of Dallas.

Esa Lindell, be better. Game 3 of what is going to be an incredible series between the Dallas Stars and the St. Louis Blues was marred by the antics of Lindell, who either just discovered ice was slippery or is heading to the Olympic diving pools in Tokyo next summer.

The third period was fantastic but the story line coming out of the game was Lindell’s antics in trying to draw a penalty on Robert Bortuzzo. Both players would receive a minor on the play, but it was a bad look for a sport that prides itself on having a bit of an unspoken code of toughness.

There’s a simple solution that would solve this problem.

. The NHL should suspend Lindell for one game.

Lindell’s stupidity ended up costing his team what looked to have the makings of an incredible comeback. The hockey Gods exacted their revenge on Lindell late in the third when Blues forward Pat Maroon scored the go-ahead goal as the Lindell either dove again or lost his footing, giving Maroon a clear shot at the net. Karmic justice served. The goal would put the Blues up 4-3 and leave too little time for Dallas to come back again.

Even though this worked out perfectly in the end, the league should make an example of Lindell. Suspending the Dallas defenseman for a game would strongly discourage any other player in the league from practicing their best soccer moves on the ice. You may think a one game suspension is ridiculous for an embellishment penalty (especially one that was called a penalty in the game), but think about this: It would end embellishment in the NHL playoffs. Think of how many times you scream at the television because your team is being penalized after an opposing player dives. This benefits everyone. The Stars will be fine with Lindell out one game, as he won’t be around to dive them out of a great comeback in game 4.

While we’re on the topic, diving should be more heavily penalized in all sports. Soccer is probably too far gone, but basketball is getting out of hand. The worst offender is former MVP James Harden, who is probably still whining about his game 1 dive from Sunday night. Harden kicked his legs out into a defending Draymond Green and expected to be rewarded with free throws. He wasn’t, thank God, and now the Rockets are filing a grievance with the league because of it. If you watch the play in slow motion, Harden begins his diving sequence before he even touches Green.

https://twitter.com/SLAMonline/status/1122626817808932864

Get this stuff out of the game. Get it out of every game. Professional athletes shouldn’t be embellishing every bit of contact then being rewarded for it. It’s embarrassing and it would be solved if they just started handing out suspensions.

The Blues host the Stars for game 4 on Wednesday, May 1st at 9:30 p.m. ET.