Nashville Predators Forward Zachary L'Heureux To Face Suspension For Dirty Play On Minnesota's Jared Spurgeon

On New Years Eve, the Nashville Predators would drop their third straight game to the Minnesota Wild, taking them to 11-20-7 on the season, good for seventh place in the Central Division.

Now, they've got bigger issues to worry about, as forward Zachary L'Heureux now faces a suspension for a slew-foot on Wild captain Jared Spurgeon, as announced by the NHL's Department of Player Safety on social media.

The play resulted in a five-minute major and a game misconduct, with Spurgeon needing an MRI after he was injured on what is one of the dirtiest plays we've seen at the NHL level this season.

While players are still encouraged to play hard and be physical, they should also be looking to take care of their opponents, which simply didn't happen on this play, as L'Heureux made one of the dirtiest possible plays against a respected veteran.

To most though, this doesn't come as much of a surprise, as L'Heureux has made himself into one of the dirtiest players in the NHL in very short order, and given the proximity to the boards, this was just a dangerous, stupid play that could have resulted in a very serious injury for Spurgeon.

The 21-year old is a -7 in his first campaign with the Predators this season, and with 32 penalty minutes in just 33 games played, it's safe to say that he's primed for a suspension as a result of this play.

The NHL's Department of Player Safety haven't exactly been the most consistent this season however, so while a suspension is expected, it's not guaranteed despite Spurgeon being injured on a very dangerous and unnecessary play.