Hits to the head are bad. Hits where the guilty player leaps into the victim’s head are even worse. Brayden Schenn was guilty of the latter when the Flyers visited the Red Wings, jumping into the head of Brendan Smith.
Was Schenn trying to adjust to play a deflected puck or was he intentionally trying to hit Smith? To Schenn’s credit, there doesn’t seem to be a ton of intent, but the leap is kind of bizarre. The puck was deflected in the opposite direction that he was headed, so leaving his skates seems like an odd choice.
Maybe he saw Smith at the last moment and was trying to brace for contact? Who knows. Regardless, the hit by Schenn didn’t look like a good one.
