New Jersey Devils’ Paul Cotter has been suspended two games for an illegal check to the head of New York Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech.

The hit came at 5:57 of the second period during Sunday’s game in New Jersey.  Pelech dumped the puck into the New Jersey zone from center ice. Cotter, coming across the neutral zone, caught Pelech up high with a shoulder to the head. Pelech was injured on the play, suffering a cut on his nose that required medical attention.

 

 

Cotter was issued a match penalty for an illegal check to the head by referees Kelly Sutherland and Eric Furlatt, who reviewed and confirmed the call in accordance with Rule 21.5:

Referees shall review all plays that result in the assessment of any Match Penalty for the purpose of confirming (or modifying) their original call on the ice. Such reviews will be conducted exclusively by the Referee(s)  …   

The Referee shall have the following options following such review: (i) confirming his original Match Penalty call; or (ii) reducing his original Match Penalty call to a lesser penalty; or (iii) rescinding the original Match Penalty altogether.

Cotter’s penalty falls under Rule 48 – Illegal Check to the Head:

A hit resulting in contact with an opponent’s head where the head was the main point of contact and such contact to the head was avoidable is not permitted. In determining whether contact with an opponent’s head was avoidable, the circumstances of the hit including the following shall be considered:

(i) Whether the player attempted to hit squarely through the opponent’s body and the head was not “picked” as a result of poor timing, poor angle of approach, or unnecessary extension of the body upward or outward.

(ii) Whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position by assuming a posture that made head contact on an otherwise full body check unavoidable.

(iii) Whether the opponent materially changed the position of his body or head immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit in a way that significantly contributed to the head contact.

 For violation of this rule, a minor penalty shall be assessed. …  The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a match
penalty if, in his judgment, the player attempted to or deliberately injured his opponent with an illegal check to the head.

From the NHL’s Department of Player Safety:

As the video shows, the puck is played out of the Devils’ zone in an attempted pass to Cotter, with Pelech positioned by the red line. The puck comes to Pelech who makes a one-touch play to dump it back into the zone. After Pelech plays the puck, Cotter leans into a high, hard check that cuts across the front of Pelech’s body, missing his core and picking his head, making it the main point of contact on a hit where such head contact was avoidable. This is an illegal check to the head. 
 
It is important to note that both elements of the illegal check to the head rule are satisfied on this play. 
Cotter’s shoulder makes direct contact with Pelech’s head, and it is the head that absorbs the majority of the force. Second, the head contact on this hit is avoidable. Cotter takes a poor angle of approach, choosing an angle that causes him to cut across the front of Pelech’s body, missing his core. Cotter then raises his left leg and leans into the contact, causing his shoulder to make direct contact with Pelech’s head with requisite force for supplemental discipline. If Cotter wants to deliver this check, he must take an angle that hits through the shoulder and core rather than one that makes the head the main point of contact.

 

Cotter’s two-game ban comes with just two games remaining in the Devils’ regular season. He’ll be eligible to return for Game 1 of the Devils’ opening round series against the Carolina Hurricanes. 

As a result of the suspension, Cotter forfeits $8,072.92 in salary. 

Cotter had a clean record — at least up until now. He had not previously been fined or suspended in his 217-game NHL career.