Playing in a league determined to eliminate headshots, Brandon Prust is going to have to answer today for his elbow to the back of Anton Volchenkov’s head during the second period of yesterday’s 3-0 Rangers victory over the Devils in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals at Prudential Center.
Prust is set to have a hearing over the phone with NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan, during which Prust will have to explain why his elbow connected with the back of Volchenkov’s head 2:38 into the period.
“I actually didn’t know it was an elbow until I saw the replay,” Prust said. “It definitely was not hard. It was not intentional.”
Prust was on the forecheck, pressuring Volchenkov when the Devils’ defenseman moved the puck up the ice. Prust then went to finish his check and his elbow rose and shook up Volchenkov.
There was no penalty call and Volchenkov remained on the ice for about 20 seconds before play was whistled dead. He made his way to the bench where he was checked out, but was back on the ice a little more than two minutes later, and played a total of 14:18, including 5:51 in the third.
“He spun off me,” Prust said. “It was not vicious at all.”
In the third period, Devils forward Danius Zubrus elbowed Anton Stralman in the chin, another play that was not penalized.
The Devils, looking back at Prust’s play, were quite upset. “Headhunting,” is the way coach Pete DeBoer described it. “Plain and simple.”
Volchenkov, who said he never went to the locker room and seemed to be fine after the game, was not pleased with the hit, either.
“It was pretty dirty, actually,” the 30-year-old Russian said. “His elbow hit me in the head, but we’ll see what’s going to happen.”
There have been numerous punishments levied this postseason by Shanahan for such plays. The most recent was when the Coyotes’ Martin Hanzal was suspended one game after boarding the Kings’ Dustin Brown in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals on Tuesday.
The Coyotes also had another forward, Raffi Torres, suspended for 25 games as a result of his headshot to the Blackhawks’ Marian Hossa in the first round.
The Rangers had rookie forward Carl Hagelin suspended three games in the first round against the Senators when he threw an elbow to the head of Daniel Alfredsson.
“I’m sure it might,” Prust said about his playing being reviewed by the league, “but there was no intent.”