Mcnabb Suspension Looms After Game 5 Hit on Poehling

Brayden McNabb is facing a mcnabb suspension hearing after his interference hit on Ryan Poehling in Tuesday’s Game 5. The Vegas defenseman was handed a game misconduct and a five-minute major, and Anaheim lost 3-2 in overtime while falling behind 3-2 in the series.

McNabb and Poehling

The sequence started midway through the first period when McNabb made a play on the body of Poehling under the assumption he won the puck battle. He slammed the Anaheim center into the boards, Poehling fell hard to the ice, and when he tried to get up, he dropped back down.

Poehling needed help from teammates and trainers to leave the ice and did not return. The Ducks scored on the ensuing power play, but the edge disappeared before the night ended in overtime.

Quenneville on Poehling

Joel Quenneville said Poehling is out with an injury and gave the update plainly: “He’s out, and we don’t know how long it’s going to be.” For Anaheim, that leaves the center spot unsettled with Game 6 on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. PT.

Poehling had 11 goals, 25 assists and 36 points in 75 regular-season games, then added four goals and one assist for five points in 11 playoff games. That production is now off Anaheim’s board, and the most likely replacement is Jansen Harkins, the lone healthy scratch forward from Game 5 who has played in the playoffs.

Harkins for Game 6

Harkins has one goal in two playoff games this season, which gives Anaheim a direct option if it chooses to fill Poehling’s spot with a player already in the postseason mix. McNabb’s hearing turns the hit from a single Game 5 penalty into a league review, while the Ducks have to sort out their lineup around an injured center before facing Vegas again.