Breaking: NHL hands out ruling in Gourde’s dirty hit on Staal!

It does not matter if you are the best team in the NHL, there will be consequences to pay if one of your players misbehaves. 

That’s exactly what has happened to Tampa Bay Lighting forward Yanni Gourde, who has just been suspended two games for his hit to the head of Jordan Staal on the Carolina Hurricanes. 

Gourde landed a dirty hit on Staal during the first period of last night’s contest. While the Hurricanes’ forward was leaning forward and fending off Ryan Callahan, Gourde came in to cut him off but made a huge contact with Staal’s head, in what was definitely a questionable check. 

In a matter of seconds, Trevor van Riemsdyk of the Canes dropped the gloves to defend his teammate and a big brawl ensued on the ice.

Staal left the ice for concussion protocol while Gourde was handed a match penalty. The Hurricanes forward did however managed to return to action later in the game. 

The Lighting ended up winning 6-3 to give the Montreal Canadiens a chance to make a push for in the playoff race of the Eastern Conference. However, they now just lost Gourde for two games. 

Let see how it will affect them in the last stretch.