Shea Weber slams Zetterberg’s face into the glass

For a moment at the end of Game 1 of the Western Conference playoff matchup between the Nashville Predators and Detroit Red Wings, Predators defenseman Shea Weber looked more like a professional wrestler slamming his opponent’s head into the top turnbuckle rather than a professional hockey player.

With the opening game of the series drawing to a close, Zetterberg goes into the corner chasing the puck and gives Weber a small love tap with his stick and a quick shove from behind. Weber takes offense to Zetterberg’s relentless pursuit and punches Zetterberg in the head. Weber then grabs the backĀ  of Zetterberg’s head and smashes it into the glass. The refs stepped in between Weber and Zetterberg to quickly break up the scrum while Zetterberg took a knee for a second and was slow to get back to his feet and skate to the bench.

The play will almost certainly warrant further review from league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan, who could give out a suspension as early as tomorrow for the play.

Weber ultimately received a two-minute penalty for roughing, although the penalty made little difference as the buzzer had already sounded. All said and done, the Predators and Red Wings accumulated 34 penalty minutes during the game. Nashville walked away with 10 minor penalties called against them while Detroit had seven. Despite the penalty riddled game, Nashville failed to capitalize on any of their man-advantage opportunities while Detroit scored both of their goals on the power play. Nashville won the game 3-2.

Nashville and Detroit will meet again Friday night for Game 2 of their best-of-seven series.

Check out a video of the hit below:

2 Comments

  1. With the focus on Zetterberg and Weber, follow Datsyuk right off the draw. You see a Nashville player give a nice slash to the back of the leg followed by a little rough stuff. Playoffs are physical and all, but there still is a line of sportsmanlike play and cheap play.

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