Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom (19) celebrates his game-winning goal against the Boston Bruins during the second overtime period of Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Boston, Saturday, April 14, 2012.Charles Krupa
Paging Brendan Shanahan...
We have another NHL star acting out, this time in Washington, where Capitals centre Nicklas Backstrom threw a crosscheck at the head of Boston Bruins' Rich Peverley after the game had ended.
It looks an awful lot like the crosscheck that will almost definitely result in a suspension for the Pittsburgh Penguins' Arron Asham on Tuesday afternoon.
The right call was made on the ice here, as a match penalty means Backstrom is suspended until further notice.
Compare that infraction with what Asham did on Sunday to the Philadelphia Flyers' Brayden Schenn:
The differences there are subtle, with Asham's stick getting Schenn right in the throat/chin and Backstrom's narrowly missing and appearing to hit Peverley in the visor.
The intent here – a crosscheck to the head or face area – is the same, so if Shanahan throws the book at Asham, there will be yet another perception problem if Backstrom gets off without anything.
Here's betting Asham sits for the rest of his series, and Backstrom only gets one game or a fine.
Lesson learned? Not really.
UPDATE TSN's Bob McKenzie reports there will be a disciplinary hearing for Backstrom and that it will be on Tuesday afternoon. Game 4 in this series goes Thursday in Washington.