The Pittsburgh Penguins dominated the Philadelphia Flyers by a score of 6-2 and I'll have more on that side of things tomorrow. For now I want to draw attention to an incredibly dirty play by Philadelphia's Wayne Simmonds.
During a stoppage in play Simmonds intentionally took his stick and drove it towards Matt Murray's throat. This was intentional, appalling, and deserves severe punishment.
The evidence:
There is no defending the play. It has no place in the sport.
It wasn't the only questionable choice Simmonds made this evening
Wayne Simmonds doing what he wants because he knows there won't be a call #Pens pic.twitter.com/D1qEdCD6ER
— Karen (@Karen_8771) April 3, 2016
In past years this would have driven the Penguins crazy, but the Mike Sullivan version of this team will not allow its focus to be broke.
Pittsburgh continues to focus on speed/skill and not the former grit mantra that used to get them running around like morons. For that the team deserves a thumbs up.
Murray said Simmonds apologized as he skated away. He doesn't think the stick to the neck was an accident but "no harm done." #Pens
— Wes Crosby (@OtherNHLCrosby) April 4, 2016
.@mattmurray_30 (@penguins) posted his fifth straight win and improved to 7-2-1 overall (1.88 GAA, .933 SV%, 1 SO). pic.twitter.com/PldXTMVJ11
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 4, 2016
As far as punishment for Wayne Simmonds goes? Well, we've all seen the league's leaked emails from this past week. They have no interest in player safety. That much is obvious.
Thanks for reading!