海角社区官网

Here’s everything you need to know:

Who is Sam Bennett?

A 28-year-old native of East Gwillimbury in the GTA, Bennett was drafted fourth overall by the Calgary Flames in 2014 and spent seven seasons there before being traded to Florida.听

He’s appeared in at least 63 games in each of his four full seasons in Florida, with a career-high 51 points this year. He played for Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off, and was in one of the three fights that began the Canada-U.S. game, taking on Brady Tkachuk.

Bad reputation

Before Monday, Bennett may be most notorious among Leafs fans for checking Matthew Knies into the boards and dragging him to the ice in Game 2 of the second round of the 2023 playoffs. Knies, then a 20-year-old rookie, suffered a聽concussion and missed the rest of the series.听

Bennett wasn’t suspended, and went on to have eight points in 12 games as the Panthers marched to the Stanley Cup Final, ultimately losing to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Though they’re now teammates,聽Bennett notoriously sucker-punched then-Bruins forward Brad Marchand聽during a playoff game last year. Bennett wasn’t assessed additional discipline for that incident either.听

Bennett was suspended for three games in January 2022 for an illegal check to the head on Montreal Canadiens forward Cedric Paquette. And he was suspended one game for boarding Tampa Bay Lightning forward Blake Coleman during Game 1 of their 2021 playoff series.

鈥淵eah, still a scumbag,鈥� Marchand joked when asked by reporters about playing with Bennett after he landed in Florida in a blockbuster trade. 鈥淣o, Benny鈥檚 great. I had a great time getting to know him at 4 Nations 鈥� I wasn鈥檛 surprised that we鈥檇 get along.”

What the Leafs are saying

Head coach Craig Berube said that the hit was an “elbow to the head, clear as day.”

“I’m not sure why there’s not a call on it,” Berube said. “I get it, they miss calls, but that’s clearly a penalty.”

Knies said that, while he didn’t see the hit, he hopes that the Department of Player Safety will take action.听

“Hopefully the league will handle it and take good care of it and protect our players,” Knies said.

Florida did not make Bennett available to the media after the game, but head coach Paul Maurice wished Stolarz, who played for his team last year before leaving in free agency, the best. The Panthers “love that guy and we hope he gets better real fast,” Maurice said.听

Will Bennett be suspended?聽

TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that Bennett won’t face any additional league discipline for his elbow on Stolarz. Bennett wasn’t penalized on the play, and ended up scoring a late third-period goal that put the Panthers within one.听

Bennett said there was no intent to hurt, and that Stolarz was a good friend.

“From my point of view, I’m just taking the puck to the net,” Bennett said Tuesday. “I didn’t even know that we made contact until after, and, I mean, I’m on the power play, I’m trying to score, I’m taking the puck to the net, and that’s really all there was to it.”

Will Stolarz return?聽

聽vomiting on the bench before being removed from the game, and Berube simply said that he was being “evaluated.” There were reports he was taken to hospital on a stretcher.

Joseph Woll finished the game in net, making 17 saves on 20 shots. Dennis Hildeby stepped in as the backup goaltender.听