Juraj Slafkovsky may be 6'3″ and 225 lbs, but sometimes he gets his apple tree shaken pretty hard. It happened Saturday at the end of the game against the Penguins.
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With a little over three minutes left, Slafkovsky moved to the corner of the ice in Penguins territory and stretched his arm to protect the puck. Noel Acciari arrived at the same time and elbowed him in the face. The good news is that “Slaf” was in training Monday morning.
“I put a cold towel on my head and had an ice pack on my neck, followed the protocol steps and didn't have a concussion.
“It’s a good thing my head is okay and there are no consequences. We were three minutes from the end of the match, I wanted to play, but I had to comply with the protocol which is mandatory.
Incomprehension
Slafkovsky was furious when he left the ice on Saturday. He had time to calm down, but he admits that he does not understand why the disciplinary committee decided not to impose a sanction on Acciari.
«[Oliver] Ekman-Larsson was reviewed for a similar blow to the head. I have my opinion, but I probably can't voice it because it's not a good one.”
Two weeks ago, it was his teammate Justin Barron who was the victim of a very questionable hit from Jacob Trouba while the New York Rangers had a significant lead in the third period.
“They are two different games in my opinion,” Slafkovsky said. They can always review the footage, but they decided not to and we have to accept that. We can’t stay here and cry.”
Respect
The Slovakian skirted the question a bit when asked if there was respect between the players. It took a second to ask the question for him to answer it.
“I have the impression that there is respect between the players. Games like that can happen. I don’t think he tried to rip my head off, but it happened.”
In his opinion, it is up to players to better protect themselves to avoid being involved in this kind of contact.
“I have to be more careful and Justin has to be more careful. That's the kind of thing that's going to happen when you try to play robustly. You have to accept it and learn from all these blows, there have been a few.”
New trio
Getting back to hockey, Monday morning, Slafkovsky was right wing Jake Evans on the second unit in practice. Alex Newhook completed the trio.
Author of one goal and seven assists in nine games, Slafkovsky is still not satisfied with his start to the season.
“There are a lot of elements missing in my game and I don't like the way I play. I need to change things and I hope it happens tomorrow [mardi].
“I have to be better in general, whether with the puck or in my decision-making. It happens too often that I make a decision and tell myself that it’s not the right one.”
