Chicago's Connor Murphy likely to have hearing with Player Safety after high hit on Erik Cernak

It seems all but certain that Connor Murphy of the Chicago Blackhawks will be summoned by the NHL's Department of Player Safety. Murphy hit Tampa Bay's Erik Cernak with a check that sure looked like the main point of contact was the head in the game between the two teams on Sunday. About midway through the second period with the score tied at three, Cernak was behind Chicago's net when Murphy blasted him with a hard hit. He received a five minute major initially, but after reviewing the play, the officials booted him from the game as well with a misconduct for an illegal hit to the head. Here's video of the hit. Below that is a closer angle that shows the head is clearly the main point of contact. The Lightning have already announced that Cernak will not return to the game "after sustaining an upper-body injury"

OH MY#Blackhawks Connor Murphy hit on #GoBolts Erik Cernak
5 minute major assessed
🎥 @NBCSChicago pic.twitter.com/DE0brYcILp— Here's Your Replay ⬇️ (@HeresYourReplay) March 7, 2021

This will be reviewed by DoPS
Here's a closeup of the incident.

Draw your own conclusions.
🎥 @NBCSChicago pic.twitter.com/DibTpDjsBW— Here's Your Replay ⬇️ (@HeresYourReplay) March 7, 2021

As far as we can tell, Murphy, who is a 24-year-old defenceman, has yet to be suspended in his NHL career. That will bode well for him when it comes time to determine the length of his ban. That said, I don't see any way Murphy avoids some kind of supplementary discipline for DoPS in this situation.

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