Colorado Avalanche’s Cale Makar suspended one game for interference on Seattle Kraken’s Jared McCann

Monday night’s Game 4 at Climate Pledge Arena showed the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche that the Seattle Kraken simply aren’t going away. They stunned the Avs on an overtime winner from Jordan Eberle, tying the series at 2-2. And now, Colorado will play Game 5 without its top defenseman, reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner Cale Makar.

The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced Tuesday morning that Makar would have a hearing for interference on Kraken left winger Jared McCann. On Tuesday afternoon, the DOPS announced a one-game suspension for Makar.

In incident occurred in the first period of Game 4 when the puck was chipped into the corner of the Avalanche zone – and out of play. McCann’s posture relaxed, as he understood the play to be dead, and that’s when Makar caught him with a late hit. He was given a five-minute major for interference, but officials reduced it to two minutes after a review. The play:

As the video from the DOPS claims, “It is important to note that McCann is in no way eligible to be checked on this play. Makar finishes this hit well outside the allowable window for finishing a check.”

McCann was badly shaken after the blow and forced from the game. Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said afterward that McCann was sure to miss Game 5 and possibly Game 6 as well.

Makar is generally considered a clean player; he had never been fined or suspended in his NHL career and has received Lady Byng Trophy votes in each of his full seasons. While he’s not a repeat offender, an injury to the victim of an illegal hit can impact the length of a suspension – only after the DOPS has determined the play worthy of supplemental discipline. But with the idea of playoff suspensions being “weighted,” Makar gets off with just a one-game ban.

“It’s unfortunate. I never want to injure guys,” Makar told reporters after the game. “Hopefully (McCann is) alright. At the end of the day, I didn’t feel like I tried to finish him that hard. But I feel like if I was in that scenario, they would have done the exact same thing. So I’m not trying to hurt anybody. It’s just unfortunate. Tough bouncer. And they got the call right. That’s all you can ask for.”

The Avs’ forward corps was already depleted, as they are missing captain Gabriel Landeskog and have Valeri Nichushkin away from the team for personal reasons, not to mention Darren Helm out since Game 2. On defense, they had lost Jack Johnson since late in the regular season. Losing Makar is a significant blow to their star power and lineup depth. But loss of McCann stings the Kraken, too, especially with Andre Burakovsky still missing from the forward corps. McCann’s career-high 40 goals this season led the team.