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Punishment for hits to head prevalent early in NHL playoffs
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George Parros is a busy man early in the Stanley Cup playoffs thanks to a rash of questionable hits around the NHL. The vice president of player safety's department suspended Toronto Maple Leafs center Nazem Kadri three games for boarding Boston forward Tommy Wingels in what the league called a hit made in the name of retribution and Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty one game for an illegal check to the head on Vegas forward William Carrier. With two suspensions, two misconduct ejections for boarding that resulted in injuries, plus Capitals winger Tom Wilson's hit to the head that knocked Columbus center Alexander Wennberg out of the game, it has been a rough start to the playoffs — and there have only been eight games played. In 1,271 regular-season games, there were a total of 37 game misconducts and 22 suspensions.