NHL: No supplemental discipline for hit on Kings’ Mike Richards

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It won’t be clear for a few hours, or longer, how exactly the Kings’ Mike Richards is faring after taking a hit in the head from the Panthers’ Sean Bergenheim on Thursday night.

The injury to his head, which the Kings are calling an ‘upper-body injury,’ occurred late in the second period of the Kings’ 2-1 win over Florida, and a scrum ensued after the incident. But the league said on Friday morning that Bergenheim would not receive any supplementary discipline for the action.

NHL chief disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan conducted the review and the league told The Times that he ‘extensively’ reviewed the initial hit and following scrum. The view was that the initial hit was a full-body check, and ‘while there was contact with the head, the head was not targeted either intentionally or recklessly.’

Richards, the Kings’ leading goal-scorer, did not play in the third period. Clearly, his loss, for any amount of time, would be a huge hole for the Kings to fill. King Coach Terry Murray indicated there would be an update on the status of Richards later today. Check back at latimes.com for additional information.

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