Colorado Avalanche
Jamie Benn throws high hit on Avalanche's Devon Toews
Jamie Benn threw a very high hit on Devon Toews in Game 2.
The Colorado Avalanche fell to the Dallas Stars by a 5-3 final score in Game 2. While they had a strong third period, scoring three goals, their comeback attempt fell short. As a result, they are heading back home tied at 1-1.
Tensions between the Avalanche and Stars picked up in this matchup. It is understandable, as they are division rivals and are both physical teams. However, Stars captain Jamie Benn arguably took it too far.
Early in the second period of this matchup, Benn leveled Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews with a very high hit. The former Art Ross Trophy winner was initially given a major penalty on the play, but the refs reversed the call after review, and Benn did not receive any discipline.
Following the game, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar expressed confusion over the non-call.
"Does he catch a piece of his shoulder? Yeah, I guess you could argue that, but the target is high, and it's at his head, and it makes contact with the head. And I've seen, you know, many times guys get called for the headshot and penalty with a lot less than."
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bITomhM3cyg[/embed]
Bednar also added:
"But I guess they didn't think so, and this time of the year, you gotta play through some of that stuff. But for me, I don't know. It just makes me wonder again what the rules that I know and don't know, and we'll never probably figure out.”
When watching the hit, it certainly looks like Benn got far more of Toews' head than his shoulder. Thankfully, Bednar confirmed that the Avalanche star defenseman is fine.
We will now need to wait and see how the Avalanche respond to Benn's hit and their Game 2 loss from here. The series is still young.