The latest player to get an education on the finer points of the revamped Rule 48: Ryan Malone of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who received a match penalty for a check to the head of Montreal Canadiens defenseman Chris Campoli in a Saturday night preseason game in Quebec City:
How the Montreal Gazette saw it:
The game was marred by yet another ugly incident as Tampa's Ryan Malone leveled Chris Campoli with a shoulder to the head midway through the third period. He was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct and will likely be hearing from league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan about a suspension.
Josh Gorges went to Campoli's defence and took a major for fighting. Michael Cammalleri scored the final Canadiens goal while Gorges and Malone were in the penalty box.
Malone told reporters after the game that he had no intention of hitting Campoli in the head and that he expects a call from Brendan Shanahan, NHL VP of Player Safety, which is very astute of him. A quick search didn't turn up any prior suspensions for Malone; which is good news for him, considering Shanahan's tendencies.
Campoli's leaning a bit on the play, but hardly leaned into the hit. It's the kind of check that was legal for the first seven seasons of Malone's career; not so much anymore.