The Penguins put on one of the dirtier performances you will ever see in their game 3 matchup with the Flyers. In the wake of the dirty hits, cheap shots & fights, the Pens have now had three players suspended in the aftermath of the game.
James Neal, a 40 goal scorer, will be the most significant loss as he's been suspended for one game following his two dirty hits against Sean Couturier and Claude Giroux. He left his feet to hit Couturier, who didn't even have the puck, and elbowed Giroux in the head. To see both hits, check out our post on the dirty play by the Pens. Brendan Shanahan explains his reasoning behind the Neal suspension here.
It is somewhat of a surprise to see Neal get only one game for two bad hits and given that he's a repeat offender, but the Pens are facing elimination, so this suspension just might mean the end of his season. Still, the fact that Claude Giroux just got lucky enough to not get a concussion here means that the hit wasn't as bad? Doesn't make a lot of sense.
Aaron Asham has been suspended for four games in what must have been the easiest decision Brendan Shanahan had to make. Asham is a kind of a goon who blatantly tried to injure Brayden Schenn with a vicious cross check to the neck, then a sucker punch to the head as he lay injured on the ice. Shanahan explains this awful play in this video.
The NHL also announced on Monday that Craig Adams would be suspended for a game after he picked up an instigator penalty following his attack from behind on Scott Hartnell toward the end of the game.
The Flyers will try to complete the sweep of the Penguins tonight at Wells Fargo Center.