Montreal Canadiens: Brendan Gallagher Definitely Getting Suspended For This Nasty Hit
![Jan 23, 2024; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens right wing Brendan Gallagher (11) plays the Jan 23, 2024; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens right wing Brendan Gallagher (11) plays the](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_4000,h_2250,x_0,y_88/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/160/01hn1ts239xxmzw3s152.jpg)
The Montreal Canadiens held off the New York Islanders to win their game 4-3 last night. The Habs jumped out to a 3-0 lead early on leading to visions of Patrick Roy's last game with the Canadiens during his first game back in Montreal with the New York Islanders.
However, the Islanders had other plans as they were able to mount a furious comeback and tie the game in the third period. A big reason for that was a pair of power play goals scored close together as the Isles enjoyed a five minute power play in the final frame.
The reason for the lengthy man advantage was a nasty hit by Brendan Gallagher which knocked Adam Pelech from the remainder of the game.
Pelech was skating out of his zone with the puck and made a pass up ice. A second later, Gallagher finished his check, but when Pelech tried to elude him, Gallagher stuck his elbow out and nailed Pelech right in the jaw with a nasty hit.
Pelech dropped immediately and was removed from the game after staying down on the ice for a short period of time.
Gallagher receives a match penalty for an illegal check to the head of Pelech pic.twitter.com/s6xWaXigFS
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 26, 2024
Gallagher plays the game hard and never takes a shift off, but he rarely crosses the line into dangerous territory. This is the exception to that rule as this hit was completely uncalled for and could have easily been avoided if he just kept his elbow down and didn't reach out for contact after Pelech moved the puck.
While Gallagher has been on the receiving end of a dozen or so suspendable acts in his career, he has never been suspended in his 723 game career. He was once fined for sucker punching Barclay Goodrow, but his streak of not being suspended is most definitely coming to an end.
Of course, George Parros and the Department of Player Safety recently chose not to suspend Jacob Trouba for taking a baseball swing at a guy's head so who knows? But that hit certianly should result in some kind of discipline and the Canadiens will likely be without Gallagher for the foreseeable future.
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