Kostitsyn will miss his team’s next game against Finland.

The violation occurred at 28:14 when Tikhonov was carrying the puck through the middle in the neutral zone. Kostitsyn at first skated parallel to Tikhonov observing the player moving the puck up through the middle of the ice towards the Belarus blue line. Kostitsyn then suddenly changed his direction and cut quickly towards Tikhonov from the side.

The video of the play clearly shows Kostitsyn looking directly at Tikhonov prior to delivering the hit. He had no intention to play the puck and delivered a check to the head of Tikhonov with his shoulder. The impact with his shoulder was clearly made first to the head. Tikhonov fell to the ice, but continued to play.

The Panel determined that Kostitsyn came with high speed from the side with the only intention to deliver a check to Tikhonov and not to play the puck. Even though his body does not show any upward movement, the principal point of contact was Tikhonov’s head. The distance travelled by Kostitsyn before delivering the check gave Kostitsyn ample time to make a different choice.

The Disciplinary Panel determined that Kostitsyn violated Official Playing Rule 124 Checking to the Head or Neck when he delivered an illegal check to Tikhonov, which was reckless and endangered the health of his opponent. Kostitsyn shall be sanctioned with a one-game suspension. He will be eligible to return for his team’s final preliminary round game against Norway