Sharks’ Joe Thornton suspended for Game 4 for head hit
LAS VEGAS — San Jose Sharks centre Joe Thornton was suspended Monday for one playoff game for a hit to the head of Vegas’ Tomas Nosek.
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety said that Thornton’s hit on Nosek in Game 3 was avoidable and that the head was “clearly the main point of contact.” That led to the decision to suspend Thornton for Game 4 on Tuesday night in Las Vegas.
Thornton was called for an illegal check to the head on the play and defended it after the game.
“I honestly thought I barely touched him,” Thornton said after the game. “He just came right back; it was just one of those plays that it is what it is. I think my son hits me like that six times a day, it’s just a weird position to put himself in, that’s all.”