NHL Playoffs 2012: Claude Giroux Should Be Suspended for Hit on Dainius Zubrus

Philadelphia Flyers forward Claude Giroux chose an ill-advised time and means of expressing his frustration in the dying seconds of the second period Sunday night in an eventual 4-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils.

The fact that Giroux made blatant contact with the head of opposing forward Dainius Zubrus is merely the opening statement in a case to sit him out for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Seconds before Giroux and Zubrus met along the far wall in the Philadelphia zone, Giroux voluntarily and needlessly diverted his attention from the play to complain about a harmless hit via New Jersey defenseman Mark Fayne.

A responsible team player, which Giroux usually is, would have operated on a second-nature understanding of the situation. The Flyers were on the heels of spilling a 2-0 lead and now trailed, 3-2, in the final minute of play before intermission. This was the time to set the tone for a critical closing frame.

And first, Giroux, the most prolific producer in the opening round as Philadelphia dislodged the Pittsburgh Penguins, was trying to spearhead an onslaught for a timely equalizer.

Had he set up or polished off a successful attack, the Flyers would have had their momentum back while the Devils would have adjourned to their dressing room as the loss of their lead, which was barely two minutes old, sank in.

When the Devils collected Giroux’s dump-in, which occurred a split second before Fayne bumped into him, his responsibility was to help prevent a momentous last-minute strike in his own zone.

Had New Jersey augmented its lead to 4-2 immediately before the 15-minute respite, they would have had a mathematic and psychological stranglehold on the game, which Philadelphia needed just to pull even in the series.

Seeing as Zubrus dumped the puck roughly a full second before Giroux biffed him in the face (whereas Fayne had mildly laid his left hand on Giroux’s back), the Flyers’ backchecker was not doing much to make defensive use of himself. But that aspect of the incident is Philadelphia head coach Peter Laviolette’s concern.

The concern of NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan is the fact that Giroux made contact with Zubrus’ head and, moreover, did so within seconds of pleading for a penalty on Fayne.

And as was aptly noted by NBC Sports Network broadcasters Kenny Albert and Pierre McGuire, Giroux’s infraction constituted Philadelphia’s fourth unanswered penalty.

Between their second goal and the conclusion of the middle frame, the Flyers had been outshot, 22-6, and outscored, 3-0. Within the second period alone, New Jersey went on a 16-5 run in the shooting gallery and all but predictably raised the upper hand for the first time when none other than Zubrus made it 3-2 at 17:47.

Residual frustration stemming from that pushed Giroux to react irrationally to his encounter with Fayne. He verbally vented at the officials and then physically snapped at an opponent’s expense.

The NHL cannot have its players discharging overheated intensity this way, whether it is in the preseason, regular season or postseason. Giroux’s dangerous and illicit method of responding to adversity in Game 4 will have to breed additional hardship for his team in Tuesday night’s elimination game.