Nashville Predators' Andrew Brunette addresses hit by Panthers player that injured Roman Josi

Yahoo

26-02-2025

Following the loss of Roman Josi in the second period of the Nashville Predators' 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers, Andrew Brunette expressed frustration with what led to his captain's early exit.
"I didn't like it. I don't think there's a place for it," Brunette said of Panthers' forward Sam Bennett's hit that led to the injury.
On the play, which occurred at the 10:22 mark of the second period, Bennett hit Josi from behind near the boards, which resulted in Josi's head hitting the glass. After the hit, Josi was down on the ice for a moment, clearly dazed. Bennett was given a two-minute penalty for boarding on the play.
"Bennett is an honest, hard player, I just thought was a little reckless," Brunette added. "It was a very vulnerable position that Josi was in, close to the boards, head first. The league will look at it. They'll have different angles, and we'll take another look at it here as well. But just unfortunate to lose a player like that from that kind of hit."
Josi played three more shifts in the second period but did not return to the ice for the start of the third period. Following the second period intermission, Brunette was seen vocalizing his frustration toward the officials.
When asked about his exchange with the officials, Brunette explained calling a major penalty on the play would have allowed time to review the hit.
"In that situation, for me, the rule's in place to at least look at it," he said. "To me, that was a easy one to look at it. If you deem it (not a major), that's why the rule is in place to call it."
According to NHL rule 20.6, all major penalties are subject to an on-ice video review, during which the officials can either confirm or modify the penalty as called.
Instead, the officials called a two-minute penalty for boarding, which is not subject to review.
"We lost our best player and he's the captain of our team," Brunette said. "He's not gonna lay around, pretend he's hurt, and not come out. That's not what the rule's in place for. We don't make decisions after the hit. Make a decision on what the hit was."
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After the loss, the Predators announced Josi would be further evaluated for an upper body injury. No timetable was given for his return.
Josi, 34, missed the final 15 games of the 2022-23 season with a concussion, but played in all 82 games last season. Josi missed four games earlier this season with a lower body injury. He's scored nine goals and 29 assists in 52 games for the Predators this season.
Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at [e-mail]. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Predators' Andrew Brunette addresses hit on Roman Josi by Florida player