Flames’ Pospisil ejected for hit on Kraken’s Dunn

Calgary Flames forward Martin Pospisil was handed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for his hit on Seattle Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn during Monday’s contest.

The incident occurred late in the third period of the Flames’ 4-2 loss. Pospisil caught Dunn from behind deep in Seattle’s zone, knocking the rearguard into the boards head-first.

Pospisil took down Kraken blue-liner Adam Larsson with a big hit earlier in the matchup, drawing the ire of Ty Kartye. No penalty was called on that play.

Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol didn’t have an update on Dunn’s status after the game, but he called both of Pospisil’s hits “garbage.”

“You gonna run around like that, you probably need to answer when somebody comes at you man-to-man and that didn’t happen either,” he told the media, including Davy Jones’ Locker Room. “So from there, I’ll leave it to the league. I thought both hits were about as bad as you get.”

Hakstol was also asked about Kartye’s fight in response to the Larsson hit.

“I’ll leave that alone, that’s for inside our locker room,” he said. “He did a great job.”

Larsson had a brief but pointed assessment of Pospisil’s hit on Dunn.

“I don’t know. It’s dirty and unnecessary,” the Kraken defenseman said, according to The Athletic’s Julian McKenzie.

Flames bench boss Ryan Huska said he hadn’t been able to review it but praised his forward for his development.

“(Pospisil) has impact every time he plays the game,” he said, per Sportsnet’s Eric Francis. “He’s learning his way right now, I guess is what we can say. For the majority of the year, he’s been walking the line on the right side of it for sure. He’s done a really good job with that.”

Pospisil was ejected during a clash against the Boston Bruins in early February for cross-checking Brad Marchand in the face.

The 24-year-old has collected six goals, 15 points, and 72 penalty minutes in 45 games this season – his first in the NHL.

Monday’s defeat ended the Flames’ five-game winning streak.