Will Letang's high stick warrant suspension?

NEW YORK -- Kris Letang's hard, swinging high stick that bloodied the face of the Rangers' Viktor Stalberg went inexplicably unpenalized Tuesday night in the Penguins' Game 3 victory, but that doesn't mean it will go unpenalized by the NHL.

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The incident occurred seven minutes into the second period when Letang, in the defensive corner, was hip-checked into the boards by New York's Dominic Moore. In almost the same motion, Letang's stick rams into the left jaw and cheek of Stalberg, who was closing in on the play:



Stalberg returned to the New York bench and remained in the game.

Regardless, it's almost impossible to fathom why neither of the two referees, Dave Jackson or Kelly Sutherland, would have raised his arm for a penalty. All of the league's high-sticking rules require the player to be "responsible for his stick," meaning intent doesn't need to applied to making a call. Except for the follow-through of a shot, the burden is on the player holding the stick. What's more, if a player is bloodied by an unintentional high stick, the minor penalty automatically becomes a double-minor.



If a referee determines intent, he can issue a five-minute major penalty or, in the most severe events, a match penalty. The latter is very rare.

But the guidelines for on-ice penalties are different than those for supplemental discipline, meaning the suspensions and fines issued by the NHL Department of Player Safety. Those are almost always based on perceived intent, in addition to any precedent with that specific player.

The strongest, perhaps only, argument that can be made in Letang's defense is that Moore's check visibly drives the butt-end -- or top -- of his stick into the glass to his left. A close examination of the video indicates, though not definitively, that this is the point when the stick swings violently forward. When the league reviews the matter -- and it does so habitually with any close or controversial call like this -- it could determine that the stick swung forward, as a lever would, because of how the butt-end, which is taped and can grab onto the glass, made it move.

As for precedent, Letang has been suspended once in his NHL career, that for boarding the Jets' Alexander Burmistrov in Winnipeg on Oct. 18, 2011. He received two games.

Alain Vigneault, the Rangers' coach, was asked 11 questions in a three-minute press conference after the game. None were about the Letang-Stalberg incident.