Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Tony DeAngelo on Wednesday was suspended two games for spearing Tampa Bay Lightning forward Corey Perry, the NHL’s department of player safety announced.
DeAngelo had received a major penalty and a game misconduct for spearing Perry below the belt as part of a scrum in front of the Tampa Bay net during the Flyers’ 5-2 loss Tuesday.
The league said in a video breaking down the incident that DeAngelo “did not engage with Perry in any way prior to spearing him, choosing to deliver the strike while Perry was not looking,” and that the “premeditated nature” of the offense and the force with which it was delivered to the groin area were deserving of the suspension.
DeAngelo will miss games Thursday at Carolina and Saturday at Pittsburgh, and he will forfeit about $54,000 in salary.
Perry immediately fell to the ice on his back after the hit, and his Lightning teammates then surrounded DeAngelo and took him down to the ice in the slot before his Philadelphia linemates joined to defend him.
After the game, DeAngelo told reporters that he intended to give Perry “a shot” but didn’t mean for it to land where it did.
“He tried to slash my stick out of my hands a second beforehand. He talks all game,” DeAngelo said. “I asked him to fight — he doesn’t want to fight. He’ll tell you he’s asked me to fight for years. I don’t say no. But wasn’t trying to give him a shot [where it landed]. Replay probably looks worse.”
DeAngelo has 10 goals and 34 points this season.