Blichfeld issued mutli-game suspension for illegal check to the head on Avs' Nathan MacKinnon
The ban hammer has come down on San Jose Sharks forward Joachim Blichfeld for his illegal check to the head of Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon during Wednesday's contest.
The NHL's Department of Player Safety has issued Blichfeld a two-game suspension for the hit, which occurred in the 3rd period of the Avs' 4-0 win over the Sharks in San Jose.
Blichfeld did catch some of the body on the hit, but the fact that he came completely across the ice from the blindside and that the head was the principle point of contact factored into the NHL's decision to deem the hit worthy of a suspension.
Due to Blichfeld having no previous history of predatory hits, having played just 4 NHL games in his young career, 2 games is probably the right call, but make no mistake.. this could have been a lot worse.
MacKinnon did not return for the final 12 minutes of the game, but according to Avs head coach Jared Bednar, MacKinnon seemed to be doing well after the game.
"As of right now, he seems to be fine," Bednar told The Athletic's Peter Baugh.
The Avalanche are set to host the Anaheim Ducks on Friday, and as of now, MacKinnon projects to be in the lineup.
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YESTERDAY
JUNE 6, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mitch Marner | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| Tomas Hertl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jordan Staal | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shea Theodore | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Brayden McNabb | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Taylor Hall | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Martinook | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jackson Blake | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Karlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jaccob Slavin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Logan Stankoven | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||