Calgary Flames forward Connor Zary will have a hearing from the Department of Player Safety for a headshot on Vancouver Canucks defenceman Elias Pettersson.

The incident occurred midway through the first period, which began with Nazem Kadri carrying the puck through the neutral zone to start a dump and chase but was interrupted by Pettersson who was blocking the lane. As Kadri tried to get rid of the puck, he got steamrolled by Pettersson, who laid a clean, open-ice hit.

Zary was right in the vicinity when this occurred and decided to act in retribution for his fallen teammate. He threw a high hit on Pettersson, with the elbow from Zary appearing to catch the back of the Canucks blueliner’s head. Pettersson played just two shifts after the hit, and did not play after that.

The officials assessed Zary with a two-minute minor for interference, and while the Canucks did not capitalize on the man advantage Pius Suter scored 10 seconds after it ended.

Losing another defenceman when the Canucks are already banged up would be a difficult setback for a team that is fighting for their playoff lives. Derek Forbort looked to be grimacing after blocking a shot with his hand earlier in the game, captain Quinn Hughes looked like he was still not operating at 100%, and Tyler Myers was a late scratch after blocking a shot towards the end of Tuesday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens.

The good news is that the Canucks were able to get the crucial two points via a shootout win, which gets them level with the Flames for the final Wild Card spot. However, they have little margin for error as they are also trying to fend off the St. Louis Blues and Utah Hockey Club, the latter of whom inked out a win over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday.

It remains to be seen how much time Pettersson will miss at the time of filing, but the young defenceman has quickly turned heads since being called up to the big club with his solid defensive play and thunderous hits. The Swedish native has suited up in 15 games in Vancouver, recording two assists, 12 shots, 20 hits, and 11 blocked shots, with one minor penalty in 12:31 minutes of average ice time and a minus-two rating.

The 21-year-old was selected 80th overall in the third round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and is locked into his ELC that carries a cap hit of $838,333 up until 2027.