Wayne Simmonds destroys Brian Dumoulin with huge hit during Stadium Series.

I did not believe for even a second that the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers would be able to get through a full outdoor game while playing nice the entire time and I was not disappointed on Saturday. 

We have been treated to a really good outdoor game through the first period of action and in spite of the concerns about the weather the game has been pretty good all things considered. Not only has it been an entertaining game but with fans from both teams in attendance for this one everyone has had something to cheer for in this game. At the time of this writing the score remains 1 - 1 after one period of play and it seems like were are headed for more excitement in the two periods that are yet to come.

The highlight of the night however has to be the absolutely thunderous body check that was delivered by Flyers power forward Wayne Simmonds during the game's opening period. With just a little over 3 minutes left to go in the period Simmonds saw an opportunity to deliver a big hit to Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin and boy did he ever capitalize on that opportunity. The hit that resulted was a thunderous body check along the boards that left Dumoulin looking like he was at first writhing in agony, and eventually like he was out of it completely. 

Although there were a pair of offsetting penalties awarded on the play, to Simmonds and Penguins star defenseman Kris Letang respectively, the hit from Simmonds did not appear to be either cheap or dirty. There's little doubt here that the primary point of contact was body to body and it was very obvious that Simmonds drove the hit through Dumoulin's body. NHL analyst Pierre McGuire did point out that Simmonds' shoulder may have made contact with Dumoulin's head, and although that may be the case no one would call this an illegal check to the head, absent some serious bias.

Dumoulin would take several long moments before getting back to his feet, although he would skate off the ice under his own power. At this time he has not yet returned to the game nor would I expect him to come back in given the head injury his body language would indicate he suffered.

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