The Rochester Americans said the huge body check delivered by Colin Blackwell on the game’s second shift set the tone for Friday’s 12-3 blasting of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
The American Hockey League didn’t think so kindly of the hit, however.
Even though referees Stephen Thomson and Michael Markovic did not assess a penaty, Blackwell was issued a two-game suspension on Sunday by the league. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton requested a review by the AHL and the hockey operations staff ruled Blackwell was guilty of boarding.
He’ll sit out today’s game against the Binghamton Devils and Wednesday’s game in Buffalo against the Syracuse Crunch.
Blackwell played Saturday night in Binghamton, presumably because the AHL did not have the opportunity to review video of the incident on the game’s second shift. A team has 24 hours to request review of an incident, so the Penguins would have been required to do so before Saturday’s games began.
The second-year winger was punished for a mammoth hit that sent Penguins defenseman Lukas Bengtsson sailing to the corner boards. The two were racing for a puck in the Penguins zone.
Bengtsson did not return to the game and he also sat out Saturday’s game against Utica.
From News 8’s Dan Fetes on Twitter:
VIDEO: This set the tempo for @AmerksHockey tonight.
Less than 90 seconds into the game, Colin Blackwell (@CB_63) delivers a HUGE (clean) hit on @WBSPenguins Lukas Bengtsson.@TheAHL @News_8 pic.twitter.com/UiEup1EV0Q
— Dan Fetes (@danfetes) February 17, 2018
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