Eichel gets his revenge with a cheap shot on Soderberg.

The National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety will almost certainly be taking a look at this hit, especially considering the context.

On Saturday the Buffalo Sabres were taking on the Colorado Avalanche in a battle between two teams who are rapidly seeing their dreams of appearing in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs rapidly fading away and in spite of the fact that this would appear to be a relatively low stakes game, things got very ugly early on.

It was just a little over halfway through the game's first period when Colorado Avalance defenseman Nikita Zadorov made everyone on the Sabres roster very angry when he took a run at Buffalo Sabres captain Jack Eichel. Eichel was carrying the puck into the offensive zone when play was blown dead for an offside, Zadorov however did not stop playing. In spite of the whistle being blown Zadorov continued to follow through with a hit directed at Eichel, one that not only took the Sabres captain off his feet but one that also sent his helmet flying as well. Needless to say the Sabres were not the least bit pleased and a melee quickly ensued and you knew that the Sabres would come looking for retribution later in the game. 

Well that retribution appears to have come in the form of Jack Eichel himself with the Sabres captain throwing a very ugly hit of his own on the evening. This time it was Colorado Avalanche veteran center Carl Soderberg who was on the receiving end of the hit, one that clearly caught him way up high and one that Soderberg likely never expected. The veteran center was trying to make a play for the puck along the boards in the neutral zone but before he ever got to the puck Eichel through a big time open ice hit on him, catching him squarely in the head and sending him down to the ice in a heap. 

Unlike the earlier hit from Zadorov there was no question that the head of Soderberg was the primary, and perhaps the only, point of contact on this hit. Add to that the fact that this will clearly be seen as retaliation from Eichel and he may be headed for a quick vacation.

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