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Oilers coach Knoblauch and Stars' Alex Petrovic address dirty hit leading to Connor Brown injury
Photo credit: Sportsnet
The Edmonton Oilers have officially lost Connor Brown for several games with injury, but Coach Knoblauch and Stars defender Alex Petrovic have different views on the hit.
Connor Brown has been ruled out of Game 4 of the Conference Final, and is expected to miss more time beyond that - possibly per the NHL's concussion protocol.
Coach Knoblauch refuses to criticize referees, but hints Petrovic hit was dirty
Knoblauch mostly kept his answer light with the media, trying to restrain himself from criticizing the referees. There was no penalty called on the play, no punishment from Player Safety, and yet Brown will miss time with injury.
Still, Knoblauch did admit to thinking that the hit wasn't clean - and he's right. Petrovic directly made contact with Brown's head, leading to a head injury. It's the exact type of hit the NHL claims it wants to avoid.
Stars defenceman Alex Petrovic didn't accept any of the blame for the play though. Petrovic insisted that he was trying to make a clean hit, and wasn't trying to injure Brown.
I wasn't trying to injure him... Just trying to make a hockey hit.
Connor Brown injured on play that goes totally uncalled by NHL
It's extremely unfortunate the Oilers will miss a key player in Connor Brown, and it sting even more seeing the play go totally uncalled. But it's just another challenge of the NHL playoffs.
The Oilers have the depth to survive these injuries, and will likely introduce Viktor Arvidsson back into the lineup - not bad for a 13th forward. It's also possible they only play 11 forwards with the return of Mattias Ekholm.
Tonight's Game 4 matchup between the Stars and Oilers will be a critical swing in the series, and Edmonton has a great chance to seize a commanding series lead on home ice.
| POLL | ||
MAI 27 | 1052 ANSWERS Oilers coach Knoblauch and Stars' Alex Petrovic address dirty hit leading to Connor Brown injury Do you think Petrovic should've been penalized for his hit on Brown? | ||
| Yes, high hit, it's at least a penalty | 949 | 90.2 % |
| No, clean hit | 103 | 9.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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