Flames' Connor Zary Earns Suspension For Vicious Elbow to Elias Pettersson

It was a retaliatory hit, coming only one second after rookie Vancouver defenseman Elias Pettersson nailed Nazem Kadri with a clean, open-ice hit coming in over the blueline. Calgary Flames' sophomore Connor Zary immediately nailed Pettersson in the head with his elbow. Pettersson did not return to the game, and Zary has now been suspended by NHL Player Safety for two games.

Here is a closer look at the Connor Zary retaliation on D-Petey.

Should Zary be suspended for this play?

🎥: Sportsnet | NHL#Canucks #Flames https://t.co/A3Ar65Wc6n pic.twitter.com/wKJi2cT1gx
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) March 13, 2025

Somehow the officials on the ice saw fit to merely call a penalty for interference.

On Hockey Central on Sportsnet during the game coverage, Justin Bourne called it "vicious" and a "suspendable play".

NHL Player Safety called it a "late, high, retaliatory hit" in levying its two-game discipline. Zary "made significant contact to the player's head. This is elbowing... (he responded) intentionally in retribution."

It's Zary's first time being disciplined by the NHL in his two seasons.

The Canucks went on pull out a huge shootout win to pull even with the Flames at 71 points for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. And ironically, it was that other Elias Pettersson — the much maligned one — who had his best game in a long time, that led Vancouver to victory, including the tying goal to send it to overtime.