Jets defenceman Pionk suspended 2 games for knee-on-knee hit in game against Leafs
Maple Leafs' Spezza offered in-person NHL hearing, teammate Simmonds fined
Winnipeg defenceman Neal Pionk was suspended two games Monday for a knee-on-knee hit delivered to Toronto blue-liner Rasmus Sandin in the third period of the Jets' 6-3 win over the Maple Leafs on Sunday.
Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe believed the hit deserved a five-minute major.
Also on Monday, Leafs forward Wayne Simmonds was slapped with a fine for a cross-check he applied to Winnipeg Jets forward Jansen Harkins during the same game.
WATCH l Jets' Pionk suspended 2 games for knee-on-knee hit:
The NHL's department of player safety docked Simmonds $2,250 US, the maximum allowable under the league's collective bargaining agreement, for laying his stick into the back of Harkins during the third period of the Toronto road loss.
Meanwhile, Leafs centre Jason Spezza has been offered an in-person hearing with the league and will likely be suspended for kneeing Pionk in the head, which came after the Winnipeg players' knee-on-knee contact with Sandin.
WATCH l Sandin suffers injury after knee-on-knee collision:
There were also enough penalties and punches thrown between the two sides in Sunday's contest to evoke memories of the Broad Street Bullies of the 1970s.
"[It] was just a good hockey game, right?" said Jets head coach Paul Maurice after the contest. "It had a little bit of everything in it. There was some energy and emotion, as there should be. Toronto for sure would be a rivalry as we played them 10 times last year. This game had some leftover from games past. It got a little heated out there, but that's good."
In-person hearings are required for any suspension that could be at least six games. The date and time of Spezza's hearing have not been announced.
