The hit might not be malicious, but Lappy hit Boyle from behind. I'd say it's definitely suspension worthy.
I think it's a double standard to want energy line players to finish their checks while also clamour for their suspension everytime something goes wrong.
Lapierre did not raise his elbows, jump up, charge, use his stick or target Boyle à la Strong Hockey Play. The puck was there, Boyle wasn't even fully turned back, if Lapierre totally let up the entire forum would call him a pansy and if the Blues lost the game he would've been benched and made a scapegoat.
It's a bad injury, an unfortunate development and so on. But if you can't finish your check then what is the point of forechecking? All the defence will do is turtle or spin around to neutralize the forechecker's options and I don't want to see that in hockey.
The main forum showed it's true, reactionary colours yet again today. Lapierre is a rat, Lapierre doesn't deserve a spot in the league, Lapierre this Lapierre that.
Enough - it's a full-contact game played on ice at increasingly faster speeds -- there will be slips and accidents and spills and slides. Skates will cut, players will be boarded, some will even get really hurt. That's the sport we watch.
Seems to me that people can coalesce their bloodlust with their gulty concience every time a player happens to get injured. Lapierre isn't at fault here (and frankly, he wasn't in 2010 when he hit Clowe either) tonight, it was the ice.