Rasmus Dahlin ejected for hitting Haralds Egle in the head at IIHF World Championship

One of the best defensemen in the NHL was forced to leave an international game early due to a dangerous hit.

During Saturday’s Group B game between Sweden and Latvia, Sweden defenseman Rasmus Dahlin was given a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct for hitting Latvian forward Haralds Egle in the head.

The incident happened minutes into the second period. Egle was chasing the puck to get it out of his own zone when he was met by a pinching Dahlin. The Buffalo Sabres captain caught Egle in the head with the check and was called for the penalty.

A brief review verified that contact was made with Egle’s head, leading to the game misconduct. Dahlin also received a coincidental roughing minor after Karlie Cukste came to Egle’s defense. Latvia failed to score on the major power play.

Dahlin had notched his second goal of the tournament to open the scoring in the first period of the contest, and has been playing well so far, along with the rest for Tre Kronor. In six games, Dahlin has scored two goals and five points, currently tied with Marcus Petterson on Sweden in defensemen scoring behind Erik Karlsson.

It is unknown if there will be any supplemental discipline for Dahlin’s actions. Sweden has a day off before playing France in Ostrava on Monday. The Swedes are currently leading Group B with a perfect record through five games, five points ahead of the second-place United States.

This is Dahlin’s second appearance at the world championship with the senior national team, and first since 2022. He has represented Sweden in the past at the IIHF World Junior Championship, taking home silver in 2018 and playing two games in the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.