McAvoy will miss Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final for his hit on the Blue Jackets' Josh Anderson on Monday night. Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy will miss Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final on Thursday night after receiving a one-game suspension from the NHL's Department of Player Safety. The department handed McAvoy the suspension on Tuesday for his hit on Blue Jackets forward Josh Anderson in the second period of Monday night's semifinal Game 6. McAvoy was given a controversial two-minute minor penalty in the game for his illegal check to the head. McAvoy had a hearing with the Department of Player Safety on Tuesday. This is the 21-year-old's first suspension of his career. The Bruins will play the Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final on Thursday at TD Garden at 8 p.m. ET.<doc-sep>The Boston Bruins open the Eastern Conference finals against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night at home. But defenseman Charlie McAvoy won't be participating in Game 1, having been suspended for one playoff game by the NHL's Department of Player Safety on Tuesday for an illegal check to the head of Columbus Blue Jackets forward Josh Anderson. It's the first time McAvoy, 21, has been fined or suspended in his two-year NHL career. In the second period of Game 6 on Monday night, Anderson and Zdeno Chara of the Bruins raced after a loose puck. Anderson gained control and attempted to move deeper into the attacking zone. McAvoy skated over and checked Anderson, making contact with his body but mostly with his head. Anderson fell to the ice and went to the trainers room with 23 seconds remaining in the period. He later returned to the game and even had a conversation with McAvoy in the handshake line after the Bruins eliminated the Blue Jackets with a 3-0 win. Despite the impact of the hit, McAvoy was given only a two-minute minor penalty for an illegal check to the head by the on-ice officials. Since there is no provision for a major penalty on that call, the refs had to decide whether to give him two minutes or a match penalty, which carries an ejection. But that latter call is made only in cases where the officials feel there was a deliberate intent to injure another player. McAvoy said there wasn't any intent on his part. "I put my shoulder into him," he said. "It was a hockey play. I tried to deliver a check. I was penalized two minutes for it." The Department of Player Safety said it accepted McAvoy's argument that there was no malicious intent on the hit but that his approach in making the hit showed poor decision-making -- that a hit delivered through the core of Anderson's body was possible but McAvoy instead went too high and made contact with the Blue Jackets forward's head. "It's important to note that while Anderson's body and front shoulder do absorb some contact on this check, the main point of contact was the head," the department said in a video explaining the one-game suspension. McAvoy played 54 games for the Bruins in the regular season, scoring seven goals, making 21 assists and skating 22:10 per game. Through 13 playoff games, he has a goal and five assists and is averaging 24:46 of ice time.<doc-sep>Charlie McAvoy‘s hit on Josh Anderson didn’t draw a major penalty in the Boston Bruins’ Game 6 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets, but it will force McAvoy to sit out Game 1 of the 2019 Eastern Conference Final versus the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. Here’s the video explanation from the NHL, which labels the check as an illegal check to the head, one that McAvoy could have avoided. Anderson was able to return during the third period of Game 6, and also seemed to share a cordial handshake with McAvoy following Boston’s 3-0 win. The video gets into the nitty gritty of the hit, noting that McAvoy attempted a hit that would be difficult to execute without making contact with Anderson’s head. The Department of Player Safety also claims that McAvoy elevated to make the hit. The league also noted that McAvoy hadn’t been fined or suspended during his NHL career before this incident, so that factored into the check drawing a one game suspension, rather than something more severe. — James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.<doc-sep>COLUMBUS, Ohio — If Charlie McAvoy’s hit on Josh Anderson in Game 6 truly was, as he described, a hockey play, that’s where the line for playoff hockey physicality has to be drawn. McAvoy had a hearing with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety and will be suspended for Game 1 of the Bruins upcoming series with the Hurricanes. That is reasonable for a head hit. Officials whistled a two-minute minor near the end of the second period of the B’s 3-0 win over the Blue Jackets, instead of a major or ejection. Who will win the #NHLPlayoffs series between the @NHLBruins and the @NHLCanes? — Boston Herald (@bostonherald) May 8, 2019 “I tried to finish my check in a legal manner,” McAvoy said. “I was penalized two minutes and I served it. I just came back and tried to be an impactful player. Fortunately enough it was in a winning effort and happy we’re going on to the next round.” By the rule book, given the penalty called for contact to the head, the officials were correct in assigning a two-minute minor. There is a question whether the referees actually saw the play at all, after it was reported on the Blue Jackets’ radio broadcast they hadn’t. Anderson was fine and returned to the game, and the rest of the contest was a focus on the game, not any revenge. “I don’t want to start complaining about hits after the game,” Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen said. “But…. If you watched the video of it, I don’t think there’s … it’s pretty clear-cut to me.” NHL Player Safety Video: https://www.nhl.com/video/mcavoy-suspended-one-game/t-277440360/c-68135703 Maybe everyone involved was lucky that was the case, because a game with less meaning could have put McAvoy at risk for on-ice retribution; his return to the game — especially if Anderson was hurt worse on the play — surely would have created some consternation on the Blue Jackets’ end. Rule 48 of the NHL rule book says only a minor can be called for a hit to the head — not a major nor a game misconduct, with no provisions for either occurrence — which sounds like a major flaw in the system. Officials technically made the correct call, but an environment where sticking to the book instead of any human empathy or concern for danger isn’t safe for anyone. In Game 6 of the Stars-Blues series in the Western Conference, Dallas goalie Ben Bishop took a slap shot off his collarbone and was down on the ice, writhing in pain. Play continued, as it should according to the rules, and the Blues scored. Bishop, in a position where players are shooting the puck at his direction while he was in pain and potentially hurt, was lucky to come out of that in one piece. The argument shifted toward the angst that would occur if the goal had been wiped off the board, if play had been blown dead, simply because the rule book would be against it. If the rule book can’t be fixed at some point — one would hope both are topics at the upcoming GM meetings in Vancouver — compassion has to take a precedent over worrying about the results of a game. If the Bruins don’t have McAvoy to open their series, it makes their path tougher. To make a big check like that at the point in the game he did, with 20 seconds to go in the second with a 1-0 lead, wasn’t the appropriate time or place from a hockey standpoint. “It was a hockey play,” McAvoy maintained. “I had my elbow tucked. I was hitting through him.” But from a player safety standpoint, there has to be a precedent of taking injury risk more seriously than the results. Continuing to allow the physicality of playoff hockey as an excuse makes it unsafe for everyone involved.<doc-sep>
The Boston Bruins will be without one of their best defensemen when they hit the ice for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, which can be streamed on fuboTV (Try for free). The NHL's Department of Player Safety announced the one-game suspension for Charlie McAvoy on Tuesday. The suspension comes as a result of a hit McAvoy threw on Columbus Blue Jackets forward Josh Anderson during Game 6. As Anderson was attempting to gain the Bruins' zone and battling with Zdeno Chara, McAvoy delivered a high hit to Anderson's head. The 21-year-old Bruins defenseman was given a two-minute minor for an illegal check to the head and Anderson briefly left the game before returning. Boston won the game 3-0, clinching the series and punching their ticket to the ECF. In the handshake line after Game 6, Anderson and McAvoy had an amicable meeting with seemingly no hard feelings carrying over. When asked about what was said in the meeting, McAvoy wouldn't reveal the details. "That's between me and him," McAvoy said. "We went at it pretty good this series. I have a lot of respect for him. He plays the game as hard as anyone. It was good to see him back out there." McAvoy went on to say he was just trying to make a "hockey play" and deliver a check on Anderson. It was announced after the game that he would face a hearing with the league's Player Safety division to determine supplemental discipline. The DoPS ruled that McAvoy made significant, forceful head contact where it was avoidable before announcing that he had been suspended for one playoff game. It's McAvoy's first run-in with Player Safety in his two-year NHL career. In 13 games beside Zdeno Chara on the Bruins' top defensive pairing, McAvoy has a goal and five assists while averaging nearly 25 minutes of time on ice this postseason.