Erik Karlsson sends rookie to the locker room with an ugly head shot.

Ugly play by Karlsson.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Erik Karlsson sends rookie to the locker room with an ugly head shot.

You never want to see a veteran player taking liberties with a young rookie. 

Unfortunately that is exactly what we were witness to on Saturday when the San Jose Sharks were facing off against the Los Angeles Kings at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. Surprisingly it was none other than star defenseman Erik Karlsson who delivered what was a very questionable hit after he seemingly went out looking for what seemed like a little revenge. 

The incident occurred in the opening moments of the game's 2nd period when Erik Karlsson lined up Los Angeles Kings rookie Austin Wagner for a big open ice hit. Karlsson found his man and leveled Wagner with the big body check and in real time it seemed like a relatively normal hit in the middle of the ice. It was clear however from the moment that Wagner attempted to get back to his feet that not all was well with the 21 year old rookie, and in fact he looked like he was completely out of it as he tried to maintain his balance on his skates. 

Upon watching the video replay in slow motion it became exceedingly clear that Karlsson's hit had made significant head contact with Wagner's head on the play, something that would explain the seemingly drunken state that Wagner found himself in following the hit. Wagner would quickly leave the game after spending just a few short seconds back on the King's bench and as of this writing the team has not provide an update on his status.

The optics of this hit look even worse for Karlsson when you realize that the veteran defenseman appeared to be looking for some revenge on Wagner. Wagner had previously attempted to take a run at Karlsson himself and it seems fair to suggest that Karlsson was looking for a little payback when he laid the hit on Wagner. The fact that Karlsson had Wagner lined up would also suggest that he saw an opportunity to get that revenge, although I'm not convinced that the head shot to Wagner was at all intentional.

Does this hit rise to the level of a suspension? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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