NHL News: After Dirty Hit, Florida Panthers’ Dmitry Kulikov Suspended For Four Games

Florida Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov has been suspended by the league for four games after his hit on Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin in the latest news in the National Hockey League, or NHL. The four-game suspension will cost the defensemen over $93,000 in salary.

The incident happened at the 13:05 mark of the third period of the Stars-Panthers game last Friday when the 24 year old Kulikov clipped the 23 year old Seguin causing the star forward to be injured. Kulikov was given a five-minute major penalty and a 10-minute game misconduct after the incident. Seguin was evaluated after the game and will miss more than a month of action because of the knee injury he suffered from the hit. The Stars beat the Panthers, 2-0 in that game.

“It’s a dirty shot, something that takes your best player not only out of the game, but out of our lineup for a little bit,” Dallas coach Lindy Ruff said to the Miami Herald after the game. “Let the league deal with it. I used to yell and scream about things like this, and it didn’t do any good. It’s just a shot that didn’t need to happen.’’

The league cracked down on Kulikov’s dirty play and ruled that he “bent severely at the waist and throws his body at Seguin’s knees,” and considered the hit too low and dangerous, according to NHL player-safety director Patrick Burke in a video report in the league’s official website.

Kulikov has already missed the game against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday and will also miss game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, Feb. 17, Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, Feb. 19 and Ottawa Senators on Saturday, Feb. 21, all being games on the road for the Panthers, which are in ninth place in the Eastern Conference with 60 points or 24-19-12 record. Dallas also has 60 points at 26-22-8 but is in 11th place in the Western Conference.

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