Washington defenseman Brooks Orpik has been suspended for three games for his head-high hit on Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta Saturday night.
In a video announcing the suspension, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety labeled Orpik’s hit at 4:13 of the first period in the Penguins’ 2-1 victory at Verizon Center as “forceful, unacceptably high and excessively late.”
It characterized the hit as including “significant head contact and causing an injury,” and noted that Orpik hit Maatta “a full second” after he no longer had possession of the puck.
Maatta, the video said, was “not eligible to be checked on this play” and “no player should expect to be hit at this time, and in this manner.