The Pittsburgh Penguins capped off an incredible weekend with a 6-2 drumming of the league leading Washington Capitals, but they may have sustained another serious blow.
Brian Dumoulin was clobbered by a heavy Alexander Ovechkin check which appeared to do some significant damage.
here is the Ovechkin hit on Dumolin. i already regret posting it. pic.twitter.com/5I1lIPVrK8
— Stephanie (@myregularface) March 21, 2016
— Stephanie (@myregularface) March 21, 2016
— Stephanie (@myregularface) March 21, 2016
The hit itself wasn't egregious but based on where the puck is there is a strong argument for the hit being needless and avoidable.
Losing Brian Dumoulin would be a tough pill to swallow. His emergence this year should not be understated.
Dumoulin ranks 16th in the NHL in 5v5 CA60 Rel TM amongst D with 1000+ 5v5 mins this season. (-4.70) Important defensively.
— Stephen Burtch (@SteveBurtch) March 21, 2016
Steven also added the following on Twitter:
Just for comparison, that's ahead of TJ Brodie, Victor Hedman, Matt Niskanen and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.Dumoulin's TM CA60 is 54.03, that's the highest of any of the #Pens top 4 D. His on-ice CA60 is 49.32, lowest of the #Pens top 4 D.
Dumoulin's Opp CF60 is also the highest of any PIT top 4 D... so yeah... they need him healthy.
Here is what the Penguins said about Dumoulin's injury after the game
Coach Sullivan: "I can't tell you anything about Dumoulin yet. I haven't spoken to our medical staff. We will have more information soon."
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 21, 2016
However, former Penguins Hockeybuzz writer and current Penguins Live radio host Brian Metzer had the following:
Closest thing update on Dumoulin from T Daley - I think Dumo is going to be all right. That’s all we care about is that he’s going to be ok.
— Brian Metzer (@Brian_Metzer) March 21, 2016
I'm going to go with the glass half full approach.
I'll have more on Pittsburgh's great win tomorrow.
Thanks for reading!