Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Monday that Maatta is out of the lineup for Game 3.
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He also implied that Maatta, who will miss Game 3 Monday night with an upper body injury, may already have been hurt in the Penguins first-round series against the Rangers.
According to ESPN, it’s expected the Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman will be out for at least that game after a Sunday hearing with the NHL’s player safety department. The Penguins would have had more if the Capitals hadn’t denied them on all five power-play chances Saturday, moving them to 30 of 31 on the penalty kill this postseason.
The statement continued in that Orpik waited a full second after Maatta released the puck for a shot.
The fact that Maatta will miss time with an injury, Capitals coach Barry Trotz said, should have had no basis on Orpik’s suspension. “I don’t think we need to change a thing. I think it’s the type of hit that everyone in hockey is trying to remove from the game”. For the Pens, it’s of unknown length as Maatta recovers from the effects of Orpik’s hit. Maatta was playing the puck in the offensive zone and had released it several moments before Orpik lunged at him.
Orlov said he spoke about the mistakes with Trotz after Game 2, when his misplay led to a goal by defenseman Ben Lovejoy midway through the second period. “There’s a little size difference, and I think Maatta was leaning over a little bit”.
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said Orpik’s hit on Maatta “looked bad right away”.
Trotz defended Orpik’s character and style of play while acknowledging that whatever the National Hockey League decides, the Capitals will deal with it. “If you know anything about Brooks, he’s one of the classiest guys, one of the true pros in the league”.
“If we start play like dirty plays, we take bad penalties”, Pittsburgh center Evgeni Malkin said. The Pittsburgh people know that.
There are plenty of offenders who play the blame game whenever the league comes down hard on them. It was the third one of his career.
Orpik did not play in the remaining three games of that series but returned in time for Game 1 last Thursday. (Although we don’t know how many warnings he’s received.) Using the unofficial playoff game multiplier, that’s a six-gamer in the regular season. “The coaching staff’s going to decide which guy we’re going to put in there that is the best to help us win”.
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Pittsburgh began that stretch with a 6-2 rout March 20 that ended a three-game home losing streak against the Capitals. Later in Game 2, Orpik knocked Letang’s helmet off with a glove to the face after a whistle and continued to try to get under players’ skin.
