NHL Department of Player Safety Officially Reviewing Sam Bennett's Hit on Stolarz

In a frankly, stunning turn of events given how the first round ended up playing out, the NHL Player Safety Department is going to take a look at the headshot that Sam Bennett gave Anthony Stolarz during the first game of Florida and Toronto's second round series.

It was a vicious act that really had fans up in arms regarding the play, and the fact that Bennett wasn't given a roughing penalty or anything is a bit bizarre.

To be fair, it feels like the referees were against the Maple Leafs all night, and many times it was Florida dictating what could and couldn't be done during the course of the game.

But seeing that he might get a potential suspension for the hit is actually a positive response from the NHL Player Safety Department for once.

After Ridly Grieg tried to take Stolarz's legs out in the first round, then having Nick Cousins lob pucks at Stolarz during warmup, and Brady Tkachuk being, well, Brady Tkachuk; there was a lot that went uncalled.

I know it's the playoffs, but at what point do you let things slide for the sake of the game, while simultaneously preaching how well you protect players.

It's a double standard the league has never been able to get away from.

But it's more the fact that the NHL time and time again seems to have it in for the Maple Leafs when it comes to dishing out punishment either against them or their opposition.

We've seen players be suspended for hits then watch the league ignore the same thing a few nights later; it seemed Ottawa could take their stick and use it as a baseball bat in the first round.

It's a bad look for the NHL offices if they don't hand out some type of punishment for the elbow, and suffice to say, a simple fine isn't going to make things better. Bennett has history, and needs to pay the price accordingly.