Gryba's Suspension is Good News for the Sens

Against the bulk of expert analyst opinion, Eric Gryba was suspended for yesterday's hit on Lars Eller.  This may benefit the Ottawa Senators or any other team facing the Habs.  P.K. Subban was the most dominant player on either team yesterday, and his impact could be the difference in this series.  But if the Gryba hit is used as a benchmark for suspension, then P.K. Subban will have to alter his game which was perilously close to the edge yesterday.

Two hits he laid in the first period appear for example.  The hit on Chris Neil - Personally, I thought it was one of the best hits I've seen in a long time.  Full credit to Chris Neil for popping right back up on that one and trying to pretend that it didn't hurt - The mere fact that he didn't go after Subban right after tells me that it hurt a lot.  Later in the period, Subban tries the same hit in open ice on Dan Pageau - Pageau got his head up at the last minute and narrowly avoided having his jawbone fly into the 3rd row.

Looking at the replay, there is clearly contact with Neil's head, but as with the Gryba hit, (or so it looked to everyone other than Shannahan) it is incidental as the principle point of contact was the body, and then the head.  If Gryba's hit was suspendable, then you can bet there is going to be a very close eye on similar hits that result in incidental head contact in this series.  Subban is an emotional player and could struggle by trying to play more conservatively.  It isn't easy for a player to play contrary to their instinct.  But if Subban continues to fire himself full speed at players, exploding upwards as he did yesterday, he is risking a suspension and the Canadiens lose their best player.

Gryba was a borderline to make the roster, and won't be a huge loss.  But now that a new precedent has been set, in terms of an "acceptable line" for players to follow when hitting, it could be a big impact on these playoffs as a whole.