Andrew MacDonald leaves game after big Tom Kuhnackl hit (GIF)
Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Andrew MacDonald left midway through the third period of his team’s loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins after a big collision with forward Tom Kuhnackl.
It appeared MacDonald was falling on the play as he tried to move the puck before Kuhnackl hit into him. On the hit his head also seemed to hit the boards hard. To make matters worse for the Flyers, the Penguins picked up the loose puck after and scored a goal to put the game at 5-2.
Eric Fehr fired the score and with Matt Cullen and Kuhnackl picking up the assist. It ended up being an important goal and sequence in the game. The Flyers had scored at the 8:04 mark to put the game at 4-2 and were trying to mount a comeback. Instead, Pittsburgh defeated the Flyers 6-2.
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As far as whether the play merited any discipline, MacDonald was falling down at the time of the hit, but it’s unclear as to whether Kuhnackl targeted MacDonald’s back. Here’s another view of the play.
The Flyers said there wouldn’t be an update on MacDonald until Monday.
With the loss, the Flyers remained stuck on 91 points, one ahead of the Boston Bruins for the last Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Philly has one game in hand on Boston. Pittsburgh won their sixth straight and continues to put distance between themselves and the New York Rangers for second-place in the Metropolitan Division. The Pens have 100 points to New York’s 95.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
