The aftermath aside, that hit Orpik laid out was pretty clearly interference. The puck isn't even heading to Ericsson, he's reaching out, it just BARELY bounces off his stick, and he gets laid out.
A "pick" is defined as moving into the path of a player without the puck and issuing a check. This was clearly a pick. It's legal to stop your body movement in order to initiate a collision, but Orpik was moving in the path of Loui.
The hit itself was a "clean" in the sense that it didn't target the head, but it was also interference and a penalty should've been issued. Possession or body position negates interference. Loui never had possession, and Orpik never had body position.
Personally, Orpik got unlucky in the aftermath, but I don't know that he didn't deserve at least part of what he had coming to him.
|