Stars' Pavelski helped from ice after hit by Wild's Dumba
Published
DALLAS (AP) — Dallas centre Joe Pavelski left Game 1 of the Stars' playoff series after taking a massive hit from Minnesota defenceman Matt Dumba, who was not assessed a major penalty for that after a lengthy replay review by NHL officials Monday night.
Dumba did get a two-minute minor for roughing, though officials had initially said they were reviewing a five-minute major penalty after the play midway through the second period. That changed after the review.
Pavelski appeared wobbly as he was helped off the ice.
A play involving Pavelski in the 2019 playoffs helped lead the NHL to expand its video review process to allow officials to review major penalties to determine whether the call was accurate. That change gave referees the option to reduce a major penalty to a minor, as happened in the first-round game Monday.
Had that expanded process been in use in 2019, it could have potentially changed the complexion of Game 7 in a first-round series between Vegas and San Jose after Pavelski, then with the Sharks, took a hit from Cody Eakin.
The Golden Knights were leading 3-0 when Eakin was assessed a major penalty for the hit on Pavelski, which the league later told Vegas was not the right call. The Sharks scored four times on the ensuing major penalty and won 5-4 in overtime.
While Pavleski remained down on the ice Monday night, Stars teammate Max Domi went after Dumba and threw a couple of hard punches before they ended up in a pile on the ice, with referees and Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov also on top of them.
Kaprizov was eventually pulled back by a teammate.
Domi was given a 10-minute misconduct.
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