Before last night, Petteri Lindbohm hadn’t played a game in the NHL for five years. The Finnish defenseman played for the Chicago Blackhawks in 2016-17, but after a year of only playing in the AHL, he left to play in Europe. This season, he started with the Finnish team Jokerit in the KHL and won an Olympic gold medal in February.
Last night, the break from the NHL, which lasted nearly five years, ended as Lindbohm was in the lineup for the Florida Panthers against the Philadelphia Flyers. And Lindbohm wasn’t shy and immediately made a huge impact.
Lindbohm channeled his inner Rob Blake early in the second and delivered the best hip check this NHL season. Flyers’ Scott Laughton drove the puck forward but lost balance after the hip check, with Lindbohm slamming him into the boards. Laughton had to be assisted off the ice. Although the hit wasn’t dirty or illegal – it was rather quite good and clean – Travis Konecny came to Laughton’s defense and started a fight with Lindbohm.
Laughton didn’t return to the game and was diagnosed with a head injury.
Petteri Lindbohm played for over 12 minutes in his comeback to the NHL and recorded three hits and one fight. Afterward, he got praise from head coach Andrew Brunette.
”He impressed me,” he said. ”Lindbohm handled the game very well and brought some physicality along.”
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