Ridly Greig Gets Light Sentence For Sneaky Punch In Senators Season Finale

Ridly Greig's start to the 2026-27 NHL season will be delayed for a couple of games.

The Senators forward has been suspended for two regular-season games, without pay, for his sneaky uppercut punch on Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Sean Walker.

The incident occurred during a full-line skirmish during Game 4 of the Senators-Hurricanes first-round series a week ago Saturday. While Walker and Warren Foegele had each other in headlocks, Greig came in with a hard right on Walker, who had no idea it was coming.

The Senators lost 4-2 and were eliminated in a four-game sweep that night, so it will be five months before Greig pays his debt to NHL society.

While some might argue that unsuspecting players get punched all the time in scrums while they're restrained by other players, most of the hockey world agreed that this one crossed the line. Even Greig admitted he may have gone a little too far on that one.

"I could do a better job of controlling my emotions," Greig told the media at the Senators' exit meeting last Monday. "Yeah, that's all I'll say on it."

Some speculated that maybe Greig was still hot after being jumped by several Hurricanes players, including Walker, after Carolina's Eric Robinson shoved him into goalie Freddy Andersen. But Greig claimed on Monday that Walker had done nothing specific beforehand to deserve the uppercut.

In their announcement today, the league's department of player safety gave their version of why it crossed the line.

"It is important to note that this is not a situation in which two players are squaring off in a mutual confrontation only for the confrontation to escalate rapidly. In this situation, Walker is fully engaged with a Senators player when Gregg knowingly approaches them and elects to throw two sucker punches towards the defenceless Walker with sufficient force to merit supplemental discipline."