Kraken's Jared McCann out for at least Game 5 after hit from Cale Makar
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - APRIL 24: Jared McCann #19 of the Seattle Kraken is helped off the ice after a check against the Colorado Avalanche during the first period in Game Four of the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Climate Pledge Arena
SEATTLE - Seattle Kraken leading scorer Jared McCann will miss at least Game 5 of the first round series with the Colorado Avalanche after a late hit from defenseman Cale Makar in the first period of Seattle's 3-2 overtime win on Monday night.
"Won't be available for Game 5, for sure. My guess is, my assumption would be probably longer than that," head coach Dave Hakstol said after the gamee.
McCann had a breakaway chance that was deflected out of play by goaltender Alexandar Georgiev only for Makar to hammer McCann into the glass as the puck dropped into the first row of seats. The hit came at the same time as the whistle, but the puck was out of play as soon as it hit the netting above the glass behind the net.
McCann remained down on the ice for several minutes as a trainer came onto the ice to attend to him. He needed assistance from both the trainer and teammate Brandon Tanev to return to the bench and headed straight to the locker room. He did not return to the game.
"That puck goes immediately out of play straight up into the netting. … I believe the puck is being caught by a fan as [McCann] is being run into the end wall," a frustrated Hakstol said. "So late hit. Really late. No puck in play. You know, like I said, our 40-goal scorer not available for the rest of the game and not going to be available going forward here."
Makar was initially called for a five-minute major penalty for interference only to have the penalty reduced to a two-minute minor upon review.
"It was a hockey play," Makar said after the game. "I'm assuming he was going to the corner because it was coming down. I didn't really look. Just unfortunate how that happened.
"I didn’t feel like I tried to finish him that hard. I feel like if I was in that scenario they would have done the exact same thing. I’m not trying to hurt anybody," Makar added, via Peter Baugh of The Athletic.
Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said that he didn't believe Makar would get any supplemental discipline from the NHL due to the penalty being reduced to a minor penalty.
Hakstol disagreed with the downgrade of the penalty.
"They felt there was a puck in play at the battle. Therefore, interference call downgraded to the two minutes. I disagree with that obviously as I assessed it and looked at it live and for sure looking at it after on video," Hakstol said. "Obviously I disagree with that assessment. Whether that's by the refs or by Toronto (the NHL's review headquarters). And that's not an accurate description of the play."