The NHL Department of Safety suspended New Jersey Devils forward Paul Cotter for two games following a hearing Monday.
Cotter was assessed a match penalty Sunday in a 1-0 home loss to the New York Islanders after he checked Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech in the head.
Cotter was going for a stray pass that Pelech flipped back into the Isles’ offensive zone. The fourth-year forward skated through the play and let his left shoulder make significant contact with Pelech’s face and head.
In an explanation video, a Player Safety official said Cotter’s hit satisfied both elements of the league’s rule governing checks to the head: Pelech’s head was the main point of contact, and the contact was avoidable.
“Cotter takes a poor angle of approach, choosing an angle that causes him to cut across the front of Pelech’s body, missing his core,” the official said. “Cotter then raises his left leg and leans into the contact, causing his shoulder to make direct contact with Pelech’s head with requisite force for supplemental discipline.”
As a result, Cotter will miss the final two regular-season games on New Jersey’s schedule, Tuesday at the Boston Bruins and Wednesday at home against the Detroit Red Wings. He’ll be eligible to return after that, as the Devils prepare to face the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
In his first season in New Jersey, Cotter has a career-high 16 goals plus six assists in 79 games. He was traded to the Devils last June after playing parts of three seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights, where he amassed 22 goals and 23 assists over 138 games.
