MOSCOW, April 20 National Hockey League (NHL) match referees ) could be more vigilant about rule violations against Russian league superstars, particularly against Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov, former Phoenix Coyotes (now Arizona Coyotes) player Paul Bissonnette said.
Kaprizov was sent off before the end of the game in the third period of the second match of the NHL playoff series with Dallas (3:7). In the first game of the series, he was repeatedly hit in the back with a club, but the opponents did not receive removals for this.
“Even during the regular season in Minnesota, it was said that Kirill Kaprizov, as a superstar from Russia, was not treated in the NHL in the same way as Connor McDavid, or Sidney Crosby, or other North Americans. It seems to me that on superstars from Russia don't get sent off like other stars,» Bissonnette said on the Spittin' Chiclets podcast.
“Kaprizov should be protected (by the judges). You can’t just hit him in the ribs several times in a row and get nothing for it,” his teammate, former Sochi hockey player Ryan Whitney agreed with him.