Wild’s Ryan Hartman suspended two games for tripping Red Wings’ Alex DeBrincat

Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman has been suspended two games for tripping Detroit Red Wings’ forward Alex DeBrincat, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced on Monday.

The incident occurred just past the halfway mark of the third period during a game on Sunday between the Red Wings and Wild. Hartman was pursuing Detroit’s Michael Rasmussen, who was carrying the puck through the neutral zone, with DeBrincat in Hartman’s path.

Instead of adjusting his path towards Raasmussen to avoid DeBrincat, he bent down and kicked out his leg, sweeping it under DeBrincat and tripping him to the ice.

Hartman did not receive a penalty on the play. The league announced on Sunday night that Hartman would have a hearing for the incident.

In the NHL’s explanation of the punishment, they acknowledged that Hartman has been previously suspended twice, as well as been fined six times by the league.

Hartman, 29, has seven goals and four assists for 11 points in 18 games during the 2023-24 season. He’s currently second on the team in points, just behind Mats Zuccarello who has 21.

Across 10 NHL seasons with the Wild, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Nashville Predators and the Philadelphia Flyers, Hartman has 114 goals, 130 assists and 244 points in 524 career games.

It was a tumultuous day for the Wild on Monday, as the team announced they fired head coach Dean Evason and assistant coach Bob Woods. The news comes in the midst of a seven-game losing streak for Minnesota, who are seventh in the Western Conference’s Central Division with a 5-10-4 record.

Evason coached the Wild for five seasons, making the playoffs in each of the past four. Despite this, the Wild never advanced out of the first round.