For a guy who doesn’t see the Penguins all that often, Brenden Dillon has found a way to make headlines in Pittsburgh almost every time they meet. The problem is, they’re never for a good reason.
As I write this, there is some serious concern for Penguins forward Noel Acciari, who suffered a brutal hit to the head by the shoulder of Dillon.
Skating with the puck along the boards, Acciari suffered a hit square into the face by the shoulder of Dillon. Acciari’s helmet came flying off in the collision, and he appeared to smack his head off the ice as he fell down.
He struggled mightily to get up, appearing rather wobbly before waiting on the ice for teammates and medical personnel to assist him. His face was also bloodied. He was able to leave the ice on his own feet, but he was assisted in his skate back to the locker room.
If you aren’t aware of the hit, this is it. Fair warning, it’s a hard video to watch:
Dillon was assessed a five minute major penalty on the spot. For all major penalties in today’s NHL, the play is reviewed, and can be downgraded if the officials see fit. Upon review, not only was the five minute penalty upheld, Dillon was also slapped with a match penalty, which includes an automatic ejection.
Fans were livid, booing Dillon as he skated to the Jets bench and subsequently the locker room after being given the match penalty.
The Penguins did score two goals on that power play however, shocking probably everyone in that building from the fans to Winnipeg’s penalty kill.
A heart and soul guy and well liked among his teammates, Acciari has not lit things up on the scoresheet, but has provided physicality and scrappiness in the Penguins bottom six, and has proven very helpful on Pittsburgh’s penalty kill, which is currently ranked 13th in the league.
It was an ugly, ugly, hit by Dillon. But it was not the first incident that Dillon has been involved in with the Penguins.
Upon seeing Dillon’s hit on Acciari, many fans online recalled a hit Dillon had laid on former Penguin Teddy Blueger.
Indeed, back during the 2021-22 season, Dillon had a very similar hit on Blueger. After passing a puck along the boards behind the net in the opposing zone, Dillon, still with the Jets, crunched Blueger’s head into the boards after the pass.
Blueger immediately left the game, and was subsequently diagnosed with a broken jaw. He missed a month and a half as a result, being out of the lineup for a total of 16 games.
Highly controversially, Dillon received no penalty on the play, and also received no fine or suspension from the NHL’s Department of Player Safety.
Oddly enough, Dillon and Blueger had history before this hit. About half a year before that hit, back when Dillon was on the blue line for the Washington Capitals, the two dropped the gloves late in the third period of a game where Pittsburgh had a 3-0 lead.
He has also been involved in several other scraps with Penguins players. Last season, Dillon fought Pittsburgh’s Jason Zucker, after he was unhappy with a hit that Zucker laid on him.
Though he has at one point played for a large Penguin rival in Washington, Dillon has spent a large majority of his career on Western Conference teams. He did see the Penguins in the 2016 Stanley Cup Final, when Pittsburgh beat his San Jose Sharks.
As for Acciari, he obviously did not return to the game, and at the time of this publishing (12:01 am on Wednesday), there has been no update on his situation. Now listen I’m no doctor, but I don’t think he will be coming back any time in the immediate future.
The Penguins see the Jets again on Saturday, in a rematch inside Canada Life Center in Winnipeg. Despite the unpredictability of the Department of Player Safety, it’s almost certain Dillon will not be present in that meeting.
(Featured photo by Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)
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