Senators winger Hayden Hodgson has a hearing with the NHL's Department of Player Safety today after last night's hit on Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke.
The league lists the infraction as boarding/charging. Bruce Garrioch reported the hit caught Clarke in the head and that the 30-year-old is facing a suspension.
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Hearings don't come with a guaranteed outcome. Still, nobody gets a call from the department over a clean check along the wall.
And this was a messy night in Los Angeles. Hodgson finished with 15 penalty minutes in just 4:44 of ice time, while teammate Nick Cousins piled up 14 more.
The Kings won it 6-5 in overtime on a Quinton Byfield winner. Samuel Helenius chipped in 10 penalty minutes of his own for Los Angeles.
Clarke stayed in it long enough to pick up a power-play assist over 11:37. As of this morning, he carries no injury designation.
That's the good news for the Kings. The 23-year-old has nine points through 12 games and a $7.4 million cap hit, which makes him exactly the kind of player a team can't afford to lose.
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Senators' thin forward group could lose another body on the road
Ottawa won't miss Hodgson's offense. He's been held scoreless through five games this season.
The bodies are another story. Warren Foegele (knee) isn't expected back until at least Nov. 7, and William Eklund (ankle) is out until at least Jan. 5.
So who slides into that bottom six spot? There aren't many obvious answers on a roster already patching holes.
Think of it like a moving crew down two guys, then watching a third get pulled off the truck for a safety violation. The couch still has to get up the stairs.
The schedule doesn't help. Ottawa plays in San Jose on Saturday and in Anaheim on Sunday, a back-to-back on a road trip where the Senators are 3-3-1 away from home.
San Jose already embarrassed them once, with a 6-2 win in Ottawa on Oct. 22.
The crease is its own headache. Linus Ullmark is on IR until at least Nov. 7, and last night Jonas Johansson and Samuel Ersson split the work, with Johansson giving up four goals on 16 shots.
At 8-5-1 with two straight losses, the Senators need stability, not another suspension to manage.
Here's the part nobody in Ottawa wants to hear. If the head contact Garrioch described shows up on the tape, anything short of games is a pass for the department.
Players like Clarke are why the rule exists. Young, puck-moving defensemen who spend their nights retrieving pucks along the boards are the ones who pay for these plays.
The Kings, sitting at 4-6-2, will take the overtime win and move on to Buffalo on Saturday.
But this one isn't finished. Los Angeles visits Ottawa on Nov. 21, and both benches will remember exactly who was on the ice last night.
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Should Player Safety hand Hayden Hodgson more than two games for the hit on Brandt Clarke?
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