- Senators forward Hayden Hodgson was ejected for boarding Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke
- Clarke left with an upper-body injury and did not return
- Read below for the video of the hit and how the Kings survived a four-goal collapse
Hayden Hodgson was thrown out of Thursday’s game in Los Angeles after a boarding hit on Brandt Clarke.
The Senators forward got a five-minute major and a game misconduct for the check at 11:15 of the second period. Clarke went into the boards near the goal line, was slow to get up and did not play again. The Kings announced he would not return because of an upper-body injury.
Here’s the video of the hit:
Hodgson was charging in at 21 mph, according to the game broadcast. NHL.com’s recap described it as an elbow to the head. Erik Haula picked up a two-minute roughing penalty in the scrum that followed, but Los Angeles still came out of the sequence with a power play. Artemi Panarin scored on it to make it 5-1.
The Kings confirmed Clarke’s status in a short statement during the game:
There is no update yet on how long Clarke could be out. Hodgson has played 24 NHL games over five seasons and now has 51 penalty minutes in them, with no points in his last 18. He also dropped the gloves in Ottawa’s fight-filled game against the Panthers on Oct. 21. Because the hit came with a major and a misconduct, it is the kind of play that usually gets a look from the Department of Player Safety, and there has been no word on that yet.
The game itself went sideways for both teams. Los Angeles scored three goals in 4:03 to chase Jonas Johansson and led 5-1 after two periods. Ottawa then scored four times in the third, with Dylan Cozens netting two and Shane Pinto tying it with 1:40 left on a 6-on-5.
Quinton Byfield ended it at 3:37 of overtime for a 6-5 Kings win, their first at home this season. The Senators lost Andre Burakovsky to an upper-body injury in the first period and are now 0-2 on a five-game road trip that continues Saturday in San Jose.
