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Johnson gets 2-game suspension |
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Rick Sadowski
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Here we go again.
Three weeks after Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog was suspended four games for cross-checking Calgary's Matthew Tkachuk, defenseman Erik Johnson on Sunday received a two-game suspension following his hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety for boarding Tampa Bay's Vladislav Namestnikov.
The incident happened with 3:03 remaining in the second period Saturday in the Avalanche's 6-5 loss to the Lightning at the Pepsi Center.
Johnson slashed Namestnikov as he shot off the rush and shoved him into the end boards. Namestnikov was on the ice for a couple of minutes and went to the bench, but he returned for the ensuing 5-minute power play after Johnson was assessed a slashing minor, boarding major and game misconduct.
"Dangerous play," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "You just hold your breath on those. Got a little fortunate."
The Avalanche, who lost three of the four games during Landeskog's suspension, will be without their best defenseman Monday against Pittsburgh at the Pepsi Center and Thursday in Los Angeles. He can return Saturday at Arizona.
Johnson is averaging about 26 minutes of ice time, kills penalties and is their second leading scorer among defensemen with 12 points (four goals, eight assists).
Johnson was handed a two-game suspension in 2014 for slashing New York Islanders forward Frans Nielsen; he was given a minor penalty during the game for that transgression.
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Landeskog wasn't able to celebrate his career-high five-point performance, which included his second hat trick of the season and two assists.
The Landeskog-Nathan MacKinnon-Mikko Rantanen line accounted for all five goals, four assists and 16 of the Avalanche's 37 shots.
"At the end of the season or end of your career you can sit down and say it was a cool night, but it would have been even better if I put that last (scoring chance) in too," said Landeskog, who was robbed by former Avalanche goalie Peter Budaj. "A Grade A scoring chance in the middle of the slot, the ones you dream about.
"We're here to play. We're not going to be pushed around and we're not going to give up on anybody. The most important thing is we showed it to ourselves. It sends a strong message to us that we can come from behind."
The Avalanche rallied from 4-0 and 5-1 deficits against the best team in the league but gave up too many quality scoring chances; three of Tampa Bay's goals came during 4-on-4 situations.
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