Kings D MacDermid suspended for illegal check

The NHL suspended Los Angeles Kings defenseman Kurtis MacDermid for two games without pay Friday for an illegal check to the head. The hit took place in the second period of the Kings' 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, when MacDermid attempted to check Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov in the neutral zone.

"The play was set up for that type of hit, with the way Provorov was directed into that ice," Kings coach Todd McLellan said Thursday via the Los Angeles Times. "That ice [in the neutral zone] is important to us as a team. He tried to lower himself. He tried to keep it clean." With the 6-foot-1 Provorov entering the offensive zone, he appeared to crouch while the 6-5 MacDermid delivered the hit that sent his opponent sprawling to the ice. MacDermid, who wound up on the Flyers' bench after the hit, did not receive a penalty during the game.

The league, which released a video Friday, ruled that MacDermid's hit was "a forceful check that makes the head the main point of contact when such contact was avoidable." MacDermid, who has collected two goals, two assists and a zero plus/minus rating in 26 games this season, will be eligible to return when the Kings host the Dallas Stars on Wednesday.

--Field Level Media