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Ducks’ multiple dirty hits on Flyers go unpunished

The Ducks had a few dirty hits against the Flyers on Tuesday night, but won’t receive any fines or suspensions.

Posted on by Ryan Gilbert
Jan 6, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Anaheim Ducks left wing Ross Johnston (44) is assisted to the penalty box by officials after injuring Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale (9) (not pictured) during the second period at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Flyers took down the Anaheim Ducks inside a raucous arena in South Philadelphia on Tuesday night. Cutter Gauthier opened the scoring, but Trevor Zegras and the Flyers got the last laugh in a 5-2 win.

Unfortunately, the Flyers didn’t come away from the game unscathed, with both Bobby Brink and Jamie Drysdale leaving due to injury after a pair of questionable — at best — hits.

The hit by Jansen Harkins on Brink may have been clean, but the shorter forward got hit up high and did not return to the game after leaving the bench.

Harkins did not receive a penalty on the play, but Noah Cates received two minutes for instigating and a 10-minute misconduct, as he stuck up for his longtime linemate.

That was just the beginning of the big hits by the Ducks, though.

Early in the second period, Ross Johnston hit Drysdale away from the play, and the defenseman immediately went down to the ice.

Johnston received a major penalty for interference and a game misconduct on the play. Some thought that the career goon might get some sort of supplemental discipline in the form of a suspension or at least a fine for the hit, but that reportedly will not happen.

It’s interesting that the league views the hit as an accident. Johnston fairly clearly extends his elbow just before making contact with Drysdale. Perhaps he was just bracing himself, but it certainly didn’t look that way.

What makes it even more suspicious is that the hit on Drysdale came after Garnet Hathaway laid out Olen Zellweger with a big, clean hit along the boards.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Johnston was looking for some retribution after Hathaway’s hit.

And the Ducks still weren’t done with the dirty hits.

In the third period, Jacob Trouba only received a two-minute minor for elbowing Denver Barkey. This is a defenseman who is known to walk a fine line and isn’t afraid to cross it. It can be argued that he did cross that line here, extending his arm to make contact up high on Barkey.

It was just a minor penalty, though, and, of course, the NHL won’t have any further discipline for Trouba.

The Flyers have suddenly found themselves a big rival out on the West Coast in the Anaheim Ducks. They’ve been able to take care of business on the scoreboard with two loud home victories over their newest rivals, and all the Ducks have been able to do is make dirty hits and leave with their tail tucked between their legs.

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