Reaction to the Torres hit on Stoll

Raffi Torres was penalized two minutes for charging at 19:02 of the second period on a play in which Jarret Stoll weathered a high hit while in the attacking zone and did not return to the game. Darryl Sutter declined to offer specifics on the nature of Stoll’s absence, though he pointedly indicated it wasn’t because he was being rested.

“You know what? I didn’t play Jarret in the third period, and he wasn’t resting, so that pretty well tells you, doesn’t it? If you ask that question about injuries every day, you get here early, see who’s on the ice, see who’s not, and you know. That’s who’s available and who isn’t,” Sutter responded to a question on Stoll’s status.

Both Torres and San Jose coach Todd McLellan downplayed the incident.

“To be honest, I didn’t really think it was even going to be a penalty,” Torres told reporters after the game. “They called it charging, but I don’t feel launched myself. I took a step and a half and glided into him. Obviously, he was leaning over. I still feel like I got shoulder to his shoulder, and then it looked – because he was leaning over – that I came up a little high…I hope he’s all right.”

McLellan didn’t think a penalty was warranted.

“A clean hit, not even a charging penalty in my opinion,” McLellan said.

Dustin Brown didn’t hadn’t come to any conclusions on the hit – though he admitted he hadn’t seen a clear replay.

“I don’t know. Stolly obviously didn’t come back,” Brown said. “I mean, I just saw the quick replay. It looked like it was shoulder-to-head, but again, I’m not really paying attention to the jumbotron. During the game I’m trying to focus on playing.”

Torres sat out the first eight games of the season to complete a 21-game suspension (reduced from 25 games) for a hit that caused Chicago forward Marian Hossa to be carted off the ice on a stretcher during a Coyotes-Blackhawks playoff game last spring. Hossa was injured and did not play again in Phoenix’s six-game series win in the first round of the 2012 playoffs.