Dmitry Orlov is one of the best hip-checkers in hockey and Friday night, he made another opposing player airborne.
With 17:49 remaining in Game Four, the former Capitals defenseman sent Rangers forward Jonny Brodzinski head-over-heels as he tried to squeak by Orlov along the sideboards.
Orly said nuh uh, giving hockey fans one of the most majestic hits of the playoff year so far.
The Hurricanes would go on to beat the Rangers 4-3 and stave off elimination thanks to a late third period goal by Brady Skjei.
Orlov is no stranger to huge hits and is an artist with his hip. He once flipped Matt Duchene with an open-ice hip check in a 2016 game.
So far in this year’s postseason, Orlov has four points (2g, 2a) in nine games for the Hurricanes. They trail the Rangers 3-1 in their second-round series, but will look to extend it further in Game Five on Tuesday.
“It’s going to be a dog fight,” Evgeny Kuznetsov, Orlov’s teammate, said per WRAL’s Pat Welter. “One bowl of food and two dogs competing with each other. They know it’ll be hell to come back here. We want to put the pressure on them.”
