Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb has been suspended for one playoff game, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced Wednesday.
McNabb was assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct nine minutes into the first period of Game 5 on Tuesday for his hit on Ducks forward Ryan Poehling, which resulted in an injury.
McNabb was granted a hearing with Player Safety earlier on Wednesday but was unable to avoid further discipline.
In its decision, Player Safety explained that McNabb delivered a “late, forceful check,” causing an injury. Poehling played just 2:20 and did not return to the game.
The suspension means the Golden Knights will be without McNabb’s services when they take on the Ducks in Game 6. The Golden Knights currently lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 after securing a 3-2 overtime win Tuesday night in Game 5.
This is the first suspension in McNabb’s 14-year career, which spans 885 regular-season games and 115 postseason contests.
“Poehling competes for puck control against Vegas’ Tomas Hertl on the wall as McNabb cuts across the ice towards the play,” the Player Safety video states. “Hertl gains control and plays the puck back into the end zone, with Poehling still positioned on the wall. After Hertl releases the puck, and well after the allowable window to deliver a check against Poehling, McNabb finishes a forceful hit on the vulnerable Poehling, putting him into the boards, causing him to fall to the ice and causing an injury. This is interference.
“It is important to note that Poehling is in no way eligible to be checked on this play. With the puck having long been cleared away from Poehling, and with sufficient time to elect to avoid or minimize contact, McNabb instead finishes the hit with considerable force. The result of this play is a forceful body check to a vulnerable player who is not eligible to be hit and which causes an injury.”
The Golden Knights have a chance to close out the series and prevent Anaheim from forcing a Game 7, but they will have to do so without their best defensive defenseman when the clubs hit the ice Thursday night at Honda Center.
McNabb has averaged 20:40 per game throughout the playoffs. He has one goal and three points with a plus-five rating in 11 games and skates on the top pair with Shea Theodore.
Kaedan Korczak is expected to draw back into the lineup, though John Tortorella may lean more heavily on the other five. Dylan Coghlan and Ben Hutton played 20:05 and 19:03, respectively, in Game 5, and they’ll have to take on big minutes once again.
The Golden Knights will be without McNabb, Jeremy Lauzon and Mark Stone for an important Game 6 matchup as they look to eliminate the Ducks and advance to the Western Conference Final to play the winner of the Colorado-Minnesota series.
Photo courtesy of the Golden Knights