Jets' Brenden Dillon, who injured Kirill Kaprizov, ejected for hit against Penguins
Brenden Dillon is already a hockey villain to Minnesota Wild fans and you can bet that Pittsburgh Penguins fans feel the same way after Dillon was involved in a questionable play that left a player injured Tuesday night.
Dillon, as Wild fans will recall, is the Winnipeg Jets player who cross-checked Kirill Kaprizov in the back multiple times in a Dec. 30 game, leaving Kaprizov with an injury that caused him to miss seven games with reported broken ribs.
On Tuesday night, in Winnipeg's 3-0 loss to the Penguins, Dillon received a match penalty and was ejected from the game for an illegal hit to the head of Pittsburgh's Noel Acciari.
The brutal hit happened along the boards near center ice, with Dillon appearing to raise his left shoulder into Acciari's head. Officials reviewed the hit and determined there was enough malice to eject him.
The ferocious blow sent Acciari's helmet flying through the air.
Brenden Dillon is assessed a match penalty for an illegal check to the head on Noel Acciari and is done for the night.
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 7, 2024
Acciari skated off with help from teammates and headed to the Penguins' locker room to get checked. pic.twitter.com/Z7aBfUji3k
Consider Wild television play-by-play announcer Anthony LaPanta among those who were not surprised Dillon was involved in a questionable play.
"Shocking to see Brenden Dillon escorted from the ice after a match penalty for a cheap hit. Shocking," LaPanta wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Shocking to see Brenden Dillon escorted from the ice after a match penalty for a cheap hit.
— Anthony LaPanta (@AnthonyLaPanta) February 7, 2024
Shocking.
Mike McIntyre, who covers the Jets for the Winnipeg Free Press, believes there is a "good chance" that the NHL's Department of Player Safety suspends Dillon for the penalty.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.