The San Jose Sharks were in Toronto on Friday night to take on the Maple Leafs on the 2nd of back-to-back games, following a 4-2 Sharks win over the Canadiens on Thursday.
It was a sloppy performance by both teams, for the most part, with the Sharks taking a 1-0 lead into the locker room after one period of play.
In the second, things got dicey as Sharks rearguard Brendan Dillon cut across and caught Auston Matthews with an apparent headshot with 8:32 remaining in the second frame.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G84N9IWG6HE
It's obvious that Matthews was not happy about the hit. This is the first occurrence of a high hit in the 2019/'20 season.
Last season, any hit where the head was the principle point of contact led to a suspension. It is noteworthy that Dillon is not a repeat offender, however, and may have intended to target the body, but with the angle that Matthews came into the zone, it made it difficult for Dillon to go shoulder to shoulder.
According to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston, the department of player has chosen not to take any disciplinary action for Dillon's hit on Matthews.
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When Matthews met with the media following a 4-1 Leafs win, here's what he had to say:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx2XbFJhC0g
Matthews didn't miss any time, aside from the remaining 8 minutes of the 2nd period while going through the League-mandated concussion protocol, which Auston ended up passing with flying colors.
Typically if a player is injured and misses time, the severity of the hit is perceived as worse than the hit itself. In this case, with the player on the receiving end of the hit actually finishing the game and experiencing no ill-effects, the hit was deemed clean enough not to warrant any further action.
