There are going to be three separate hearings from that mess that was Game 3 between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers. Two of them will be for James Neal.
The NHL announced that Neal will have two separate hearings on Tuesday for hits on Claude Giroux and another on Sean Couturier. While he took a penalty for the Giroux hit, his crunching of Couturier was unpunished. Key word being "was" because he'll pay for it now. I think.
In one video here you can see the two Neal hits in question, including numerous slow-motion replays. It doesn't look real good if you're a Penguins fan.
The other hearing? That would be another Penguin, Arron Asham. And his is an in-person hearing, opening him up to a suspension beyond five games.
He was shown the gate in the first period when he came flying in and gave the Flyers' Braden Schenn a cross-check to the throat. For good measure he gave Schenn a punch on the ice, too. It was in response to a clean check by Schenn that was monstrous.
It's worth noting that none of the players in question where injured, they were all able to finish out the game. In a lot of instances that would absolve the players of supplemental discipline, but not in this case, would be my assumption. I can't imagine Shanahan not giving Neal more than a slap on the wrist if he is holding two hearings with him on the same day. And Asham? Well the in-person angle pretty much locks it up that he'll be getting multiple games.
Frankly, Neal and Asham were lucky they didn't hurt the Flyers on the plays, because all of the hits certainly could have. If so they'd both be getting the proverbial book thrown their way.
To say that Game 3 in Philadelphia on Sunday got ugly would be doing the word ugly a disservice. There was also hair pulling and even a fight between Sidney Crosby and Claude Giroux. That's not a joke, they really "fought."
At this point it might be better for the Penguins to just bow out in Game 4.
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