Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett has been suspended three games for an illegal check to the head of Montreal Canadiens forward Cedric Paquette in Saturday’s 5-2 win. There was no penalty called on the play during the game.
NEWS: Sam Bennett suspended 3 games for illegal check to the head of Cedric Paquette. #TimeToHunt #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/0B0bWJ3L4Y
— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) January 3, 2022
Bennett is slated to miss tomorrow’s home game against his former team, the Calgary Flames, as well as road games against the Dallas Stars on Thursday and the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. Might be worth a shot at appealing with commissioner Gary Bettman.
The Panthers got a helping hand from the New York Rangers, who beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-0 at Madison Square Garden yesterday. Florida is still a point behind the Bolts, but now have to games in hand on their cross-state rival.
Down on the farm, the Charlotte Checkers had their two-game weekend set with the Texas Stars postponed. The Checkers will return to action on Saturday when they visit the Bridgeport Islanders for back-to-back.