"It's a bad play by (Dell) and he's done it before," said Smith. "It's a bad play and it's unfortunate. A young kid isn't going to be able to go to an all-star game and it's ridiculous."
"It's interference," continued Smith. He wasn't in the path of the goalie and the goalie, at the last second, steps back and hits him."
Dell insists he was not trying to hurt Batherson.
"I was just trying to buy some time for my defenseman and step into his lane," Dell said. "I hope he's all right. I wasn't trying to hurt anybody."
That rings a bit hollow as the hit was completely unnecessary and illegal, despite there being no penalty on the play. As for Smith's comments that Dell has done this before, there was an incident where Dell swung his stick at Sam Bennett while he was playing with the San Jose Sharks. Dell was not penalized on that play either. Video of both incidents can be seen below.
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LIVE
APRIL 25, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Sebastian Aho | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Drake Batherson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Taylor Hall | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Seth Jarvis | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Carter Yakemchuk | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Dylan Cozens | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brock Faber | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Robertson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Logan Stankoven | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jalen Chatfield | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Matt Duchene | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mark Jankowski | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Kirill Kaprizov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| K'Andre Miller | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mikko Rantanen | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Tim Stutzle | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Sean Walker | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mike Amadio | - | - | - | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||
| 2025-2026 NHL STANDINGS | ||||||
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Sabres | 82 | 50 | 23 | 9 | 109 | |
| Lightning | 82 | 50 | 26 | 6 | 106 | |
| Canadiens | 82 | 48 | 24 | 10 | 106 | |
| Bruins | 82 | 45 | 27 | 10 | 100 | |
| Senators | 82 | 44 | 27 | 11 | 99 | |
| Red Wings | 82 | 41 | 31 | 10 | 92 | |
| Panthers | 82 | 40 | 38 | 4 | 84 | |
| Maple Leafs | 82 | 32 | 36 | 14 | 78 | |
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Hurricanes | 82 | 53 | 22 | 7 | 113 | |
| Penguins | 82 | 41 | 25 | 16 | 98 | |
| Flyers | 82 | 43 | 27 | 12 | 98 | |
| Capitals | 82 | 43 | 30 | 9 | 95 | |
| Blue Jackets | 82 | 40 | 30 | 12 | 92 | |
| Islanders | 82 | 43 | 34 | 5 | 91 | |
| Devils | 82 | 42 | 37 | 3 | 87 | |
| Rangers | 82 | 34 | 39 | 9 | 77 | |
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Avalanche | 82 | 55 | 16 | 11 | 121 | |
| Stars | 82 | 50 | 20 | 12 | 112 | |
| Wild | 82 | 46 | 24 | 12 | 104 | |
| Mammoth | 82 | 43 | 33 | 6 | 92 | |
| Blues | 82 | 37 | 33 | 12 | 86 | |
| Predators | 82 | 38 | 34 | 10 | 86 | |
| Jets | 82 | 35 | 35 | 12 | 82 | |
| Blackhawks | 82 | 29 | 39 | 14 | 72 | |
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Golden Knights | 82 | 39 | 26 | 17 | 95 | |
| Oilers | 82 | 41 | 30 | 11 | 93 | |
| Ducks | 82 | 43 | 33 | 6 | 92 | |
| Kings | 82 | 35 | 27 | 20 | 90 | |
| Sharks | 82 | 39 | 35 | 8 | 86 | |
| Kraken | 82 | 34 | 37 | 11 | 79 | |
| Flames | 82 | 34 | 39 | 9 | 77 | |
| Canucks | 82 | 25 | 49 | 8 | 58 | |
COMPLETE STANDINGS | ||||||