Charles-Edouard D'Astous got just two minutes tonight for a cross-check on Parker Kelly, and the Lightning blueliner got off easy.
Kelly never saw it coming. The stick landed square in his ribs while his attention was somewhere else entirely.
It came in a game the Avalanche were controlling from the start. That's what makes it look like pure frustration.
A cross-check to the ribs of a player who isn't braced can cost a team weeks. Tonight, it cost Tampa Bay a trip to the box.
Two minutes for that is like getting a parking ticket for running a red light. Technically a penalty, nowhere close to the right one.
D'Astous is a 28-year-old defenseman playing on an $875,000 deal. He's not a guy who can afford to become a story for the wrong reasons.
He has three points and a -3 rating through eight games. Tonight didn't help either number.
Lightning carry their frustration into a Utah back-to-back
The Lightning came into Denver at 7-2-0, riding three straight wins. They'd hammered Vegas 6-2 on Tuesday.
That's why the frustration stands out. Tampa Bay has been perfect at home at 5-0-0, but the road has been a grind at 2-2-0.
Now they fly straight to Utah for Saturday night. Jon Cooper has to make sure tonight's mood doesn't board the plane with them.
Colorado needed this one badly. The Avalanche entered on a two-game skid after a 4-3 loss in New Jersey on Tuesday.
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Jared Bednar's group has been scoring 4.5 goals per game. Tonight, it finally looked like the team those numbers describe.
Kelly, 27, has five points this season but none over his last five games. He wasn't the guy driving the play, which makes the target choice even stranger.
The league should take a second look. A minor doesn't fit a play where the player on the receiving end had no chance to protect himself.
These teams meet again February 13 in Tampa. The Avalanche bench will remember the number 51 on D'Astous's back long before then.
Should the NHL suspend Charles-Edouard D'Astous for his cross-check on Parker Kelly?
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