Pearson to have a hearing for Davidson hit

The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced Monday that Tanner Pearson will have a hearing for his illegal check to the head of Oilers defenseman Brandon Davidson.

During last night’s win over the Los Angeles Kings, there was a scary moment just over halfway through the second period when Davidson got shouldered in the chin thanks to a late hit by Kings forward Tanner Pearson.

Tyler Toffoli was in the neutral zone when he threw the puck towards Davidson who was along the right side of the Oilers defensive blue line. Pearson charged towards Davidson and ended up catching the Oilers blueliner in the chin with his shoulder.

Davidson went down on the play and was on the ice for a few minutes getting looked at by Oilers’ trainers. He was clearly shaken up and did not return to the ice. Last night, Todd McLellan said that Davidson was “day-to-day.” 

Here is the play in question: 

Last night, the Oilers also lost Iiro Pakarinen to a knee injury after he was hauled down awkwardly by Matt Greene behind the net. The two players went into the corner and Pakarinen’s leg twisted awkwardly as he fell. Pakarinen remained on the ice for severals minutes until he was helped off by trainers and teammates. 

McLellan also said that Pakarinen would be out for “at least a month.” With the injury to Pakarinen, it now opens up the bottom-six a little bit more for players like Drake Caggiula, Kris Versteeg, Jesse Puljujarvi and maybe even Anton Slepyshev.