Zadorov levels Jack Eichel after the whistle has blown.

Eichel taken out after the whistle.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Zadorov levels Jack Eichel after the whistle has blown.

The Buffalo Sabres are not happy about this one and it is not hard to see why. 

The Sabres are facing off against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday afternoon in a battle between two teams who are quickly starting to see the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs slip out of view. The Sabres are way out of it at this point and although the Avalanche are only 4 points out the loss of captain Gabriel Landeskog to injury for what is likely to be the remainder of the regular season could spell their doom as well. Keeping all of that in mind there was not much expectation that this would be a hotly contested game between these two organizations today but things got pretty ugly and in a hurry.

Just a little over half way through the game's very first period Buffalo Sabres captain Jack Eichel was carrying the puck into the offensive zone when the Buffalo Sabres were whistled for an offside. That should have marked the end of the play but it was anything but. Colorado Avalance defenseman Nikita Zadorov was lining up the Sabres captain for a big hit prior to the whistle and although there's no doubt he had to have heard the whistle go off due to his proximity to the official blowing it, he decided not to let up on the play. 

Instead Zadorov continued his forward momentum and absolutely drilled Eichel along the boards, seemingly catching the unsuspecting Sabres star up high as Eichel fell off balance and dislodging the helmet for Eichel's head in the process. As you would expect this immediately drew a crowd from the Buffalo Sabres but although a few pushes and shoves were exchanged in the sequence here no real punches were thrown after what could easily be viewed as a dirty hit on the team's biggest star.

Thankfully for the Sabres, and likely to some degree for Zadorov as well, Eichel seemed to be alright on the play and was quickly back up to his feet after the hit. Eichel himself seemed to want no part of the scrum that ensued after the fact though and did his best to avoid any confrontation when the two sides clashed on the ice.

Update: Eichel has since gotten his revenge with a cheap shot of his own.

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