I missed this yesterday but better late than never.

from Frank Seravalli of TSN,

With one punch, Washington’s Tom Wilson caved in the left side of Colorado’s Ian Cole’s face last month, fracturing his orbital bone.

Cole required surgery and, after working through eye problems that he said included double vision, returned to the lineup March 1 with a full cage after missing 11 games.

The trouble for Cole wasn’t that he wasn’t expecting a fight with Wilson - he knew that was coming after a questionable hit on Evgeny Kuznetsov that earned him a five-minute major for interference.

It’s that he couldn’t defend himself. He didn’t attempt a single punch, instead held onto Wilson’s sweater for dear life. Wilson landed at least eight punches in the process.

With that sequence in mind, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety has proposed minor language changes to the rule book to help protect players and pursue potential discipline in the case of a “sucker punch.”

The idea is to allow for a match penalty and/or supplemental discipline for any player who punches either an unsuspecting or unwilling opponent.

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You can review the Wilson/Cole incident below.