NHL Department of Player Safety Confirms Jack Eichel's Suspension Fate for Hit on Mattias Ekholm
The Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights have quite the rivalry, and now it's been taken to another level after a dirty hit from Vegas forward Jack Eichel that many fans believe should have resulted in disciplinary action that simply wasn't taken.
On Saturday night, the Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers played a thriller, resulting in a 6-3 win for Edmonton, their eighth victory in their last nine overall games played.
One moment that stood out from this matchup involved star forward Jack Eichel, as he sent Mattias Ekholm crashing into the boards during a battle for the puck, with the Oilers star staying down for quite some time after the play.
Somehow, Eichel was not even called for a penalty on the play, with some fans on social media calling out the league for their poor officiating, even going as far as to call for a suspension on the play.
While it wasn't the most egregious play we've ever seen, one fan put it side by side with a play that recently resulted in a five-minute penalty and a game misconduct for Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks, and it's hard to ignore the clear double standard.
Thankfully for the Oilers, it appears that Ekholm is okay, and they ultimately got the last laugh with a 6-3 victory over Vegas, but this is yet again another example of the inconsistency in the NHL's officiating, with the referee right on top of the play without a call.
At this point in time, it's incredibly tough as a fan to tell what's a penalty, what's a suspension and what is okay, but given the lengths that the league has gone too to protect their players moving forward, it's hard for them to justify not giving away at least a penalty on this play.
Per the NHL Department of Player Safety, he will not be suspended.
| POLL | ||
DÉCEMBRE 15 | 345 ANSWERS NHL Department of Player Safety Confirms Jack Eichel's Suspension Fate for Hit on Mattias Ekholm Should Jack Eichel have been sent to the box for this hit? | ||
| Yes | 295 | 85.5 % |
| No | 50 | 14.5 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Seth Jarvis | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| Zach Hyman | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Sebastian Aho | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Leon Draisaitl | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Jonathan Huberdeau | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Nazem Kadri | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Mikael Granlund | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Brady Skjei | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Filip Forsberg | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Barrett Hayton | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Alexander Killorn | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Mason McTavish | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jackson Blake | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brock Boeser | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Filip Chytil | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Kirby Dach | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mario Ferraro | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Adam Fox | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Kent Johnson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dylan Larkin | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Capitals | 48 | 33 | 10 | 5 | 71 | |
Jets | 49 | 32 | 14 | 3 | 67 | |
Golden Knights | 48 | 30 | 14 | 4 | 64 | |
Oilers | 48 | 30 | 15 | 3 | 63 | |
Hurricanes | 49 | 30 | 16 | 3 | 63 | |
Maple Leafs | 49 | 30 | 17 | 2 | 62 | |
Wild | 48 | 28 | 16 | 4 | 60 | |
Devils | 50 | 27 | 17 | 6 | 60 | |
Stars | 47 | 29 | 17 | 1 | 59 | |
Panthers | 49 | 28 | 18 | 3 | 59 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||