The collision involving Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin early in Saturday’s game against the Ottawa Senators created a stir, and two days later one of the players who caused the contact delivered his version of the facts.
The victim lost consciousness momentarily after receiving a blow to the head courtesy of Mathieu Joseph and Parker Kelly; while the two “Sens” skaters each received a minor punishment, the Wings color wearer regained his senses before painfully retreating to the locker room. Also, Detroit placed his name on the injured list on Monday.
• Read also: WATCH: Perron sent off for attempted injury after defending Larkin
• Read also: NHL: Kane scores his first goal in a losing cause
Even after several hours, the subject remains hot, especially since David Perron wanted to respond by delivering a double check to Artem Zub’s face, a gesture which will logically earn him a suspension. In Ottawa, Joseph tried as best he could to calm things down when journalists met him on the sidelines of morning training.
“It’s happening so quickly. During a game, shorthanded, you see a guy and the puck in front of your net, and you try to clear it. Obviously the referees decided how they were going to award the penalties, but at that point I didn’t really know what was going on. We were trying to remove the disc from our zone, regardless of those who were near the cage and the others who were not,” said the striker in an interview relayed by the Sportsnet account.
Fast sport
For Quebecers, the very nature of hockey sometimes explains this type of mishap experienced by Larkin and several others.
“It’s a stroke of bad luck, we don’t want a similar story to happen to a player,” he added, specifying that he had apologized for the gesture in question. It was more chaotic than anything else. […] It’s a fast-paced sport and things happen, but we’re all competitors. We’re trying to win.”
Joseph is not recognized as the most vicious hockey player, especially since he never reached the plateau of 40 penalty minutes in a campaign. However, he has 25 in 22 matches this year. For his part, Kelly has already showcased his talents as a bully, even if he has totaled only two minor penalties in Ottawa in 2023-2024.
The Senators will host the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.