Johan Larsson laid out by a late hit from Kurtis Gabriel.

San Jose Sharks forward Kurtis Gabriel was tossed from Saturday night's game against the Arizona Coyotes and some believe he may be headed for even more time off than that.

A little less than midway through the third period between  these two teams, there was an incident involving Gabriel and Arizona Coyotes forward Johan Larsson, one that resulted in Larsson leaving the game as well. It came off the back of a deep pass from the Coyotes blue line by Larsson, one that appeared to have been long gone by the time Gabriel came in to deliver a huge hit on the unsuspecting Larsson.

As you will see in the replay below, Larsson had fired off the puck quite a bit before contact was made by Gabriel, and there's no doubt in my mind that it was how late this hit came in that earned him the major from the officials on the ice. Although I don't think the hit will necessarily lead to a suspension, I suspect that if Larsson's injury proves to be serious there could be additional consequences beyond the major and game misconduct that this hit resulted in.

Gabriel of course is known for playing a hard nosed style of hockey and there is no doubt an expectation from the Sharks that he play his physical game on a night in and night out basis, but I do think he had plenty of time to pull off of this hit once he realized Larsson had dumped the puck down the ice.