HUUUUUGE hit.  Man.

1.  No way that’s a penalty.  As good of a check as you’re gonna see when it comes to separating a player from the puck.

2.  Why in the hell is Skinner back in the game?  The Canes are 13th in the East.  Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Posted by Flashtastick56 from Milford, CT on 01/17/12 at 09:26 PM ET

It’s interference. There’s no way you can convince me Orpik was even attempting to play the puck; his intent from 20 feet away was to knock Skinner into next week. 1 second later, I’d applaud this hit…hell…I kind of am now as it is but…it is interference. That said, I agree…why did Skinner come back after getting plastered like that?

Posted by mrfluffy from Long Beach on 01/17/12 at 10:25 PM ET

Skinner touches the puck at:02. Orpik hits him a second later. Perfectly clean hit. Orpik didn’t have to play the puck once Skinner touched it. Just a player trying to separate his opponent from the puck. Good play.

Posted by cs6687 on 01/17/12 at 11:21 PM ET

That’s about as fine a line on the timing as you can get. Should not have been called interference.

Posted by Nate A from Detroit-ish on 01/17/12 at 11:26 PM ET

Referees are going to make that call every time whether it was perfectly timed or not. Wasn’t Jordan Eberle caught in no man’s land on something similar last season (which was followed by a suspension)? I could be wrong…

Posted by Jesters Dead on 01/18/12 at 02:26 AM ET

Referees are going to make that call every time whether it was perfectly timed or not.

So referees are allowed to make this mistake? If the player touches the puck and the hit is perfectly timed and clean (like this it was), then there’s no penalty. The referee apologized to Orpik after the game for making the call, by the way.

Posted by cs6687 on 01/18/12 at 03:04 AM ET

@  mrfluffy:

What does Orpik playing the puck have to do with it?  There is no way it was interference. It was a good hard shoulder check.  Nothing illegal about it.  The Ref even apologized to Orpik later in the game for getting the call wrong.  It would have been a shame if the Canes had scored as a result of that power play and won the game.

Posted by Sneplive on 01/18/12 at 10:10 AM ET

Ouch.  Right on the chin, fresh off concussion.  This is definitely not interference.  Is it a headshot though?  Pretty hard to find the shoulder there, and I definitely don’t want guys throwing knees.

Posted by tuxedoTshirt from Fvck Kronwall on 01/18/12 at 03:46 PM ET

Posted by Sneplive on 01/18/12 at 10:10 AM ET

Do you realize how much internet fellatio would be going on by these guys if this was Kronwall instead of Orpik?

But because it’s a Penguin…it’s not a good play.  Just another day on the KK comment threads.

Posted by Flashtastick56 from Milford, CT on 01/18/12 at 08:16 PM ET

But because it’s a Penguin…it’s not a good play.  Just another day on the KK comment threads.

Posted by Flashtastick56 from Milford, CT on 01/18/12 at 08:16 PM ET

Keep fighting that good fight, man.

Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 01/18/12 at 08:28 PM ET

@ TuxedoT;

I don’t know what video you’re watching, because that was a shoulder check as plain as day.  Head shot?  Chin?  LOLOLOLOL.  Get real.  And if Skinner wasn’t fit to play “fresh off a concussion”, he shouldn’t have been out there.  The Canes were idiots to send him back out on the ice later.  I don’t care if the PGH Doc cleared him. That was stupid.

Posted by Sneplive on 01/19/12 at 10:57 AM ET