The Department of Player Safety rules on Connor Murphy's devastating hit on Erik Cernak
Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy has avoided a suspension after being ejected from Sunday's matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning after absolutely flattening Bolts blueliner Erik Cernak behind the Chicago net, per Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton.
The Athletic's Joe Smith also confirms that Murphy will not be receiving any sort of a fine for the hit from the NHL's Department of Player Safety, who felt that no supplemental discipline was warranted, given that Cernak's head was not the main point of contact.
In case you missed it, here's a replay of the hit:
The good news is that, per Tampa's head coach Jon Cooper, Cernak was a full participant in Bolts practice on Monday, with hopes of returning to the lineup on Tuesday after leaving Sunday's contest and not returning.
The NHL continues to display its penchant for inconsistency after suspending Washington's Tom Wilson for seven games for boarding Boston's Brandon Carlo on Friday.
Of course, Wilson's spotty history reportedly came into play in the decision, while Murphy has no history of suspension in his eight NHL seasons to establish any sort of a pattern.
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YESTERDAY
JUNE 4, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Brett Howden | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mitch Marner | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mark Jankowski | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Staal | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Logan Stankoven | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mark Stone | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Noah Hanifin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Tomas Hertl | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Jackson Blake | - | - | - | |
| Jalen Chatfield | - | - | - | |
| Dylan Coghlan | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||