The lowdown on Tuesday's boarding call

THE PLAY

Hurricanes center Doug Weight checked Sabres winger Jason Pominville into the boards deep in Buffalo's zone at 2:28 in overtime during Tuesday night's 2-1 Buffalo win.

THE CALL

Weight was penalized for boarding, which is Rule No. 44 in the NHL Rulebook.

THE RULE

"a) A minor or major penalty, at the discretion of the Referee, based upon the degree of violence of the impact with the boards, shall be imposed on any player who checks an opponent in such a manner that causes the opponent to be thrown violently in the boards."

It is the same penalty Pittsburgh's Brooks Orpik was given for a March 4 hit that broke the neck of the Canes' Erik Cole.

CAROLINA SAYS

Weight contends Pominville purposely turned his face toward the boards to draw the penalty. If Weight had checked Pominville face-to-face, it would have been a legal hit.

"I know he sees me," Weight said after the game. "He's turning into me, and I'm coming hard to finish my check, and he spins with the puck."

BUFFALO SAYS

Pominville denies turning away from Weight to purposely draw the penalty.

"To be honest, I never saw him," Pominville said. "My back was turned, and he hit me from behind a little bit.

"I thought it was a good call, and we got a huge goal."

Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff, who accused the Canes of diving to draw penalties earlier in the series, said Pominville didn't have to embellish the contact to draw the penalty.

"It was a pretty cheap shot. ... I mean, he's defenseless," Ruff said.

THE RESULT

With Weight in the penalty box, the Sabres scored the winning goal on the power play at 4:42 in overtime.

THE VERDICT

From OLN's replay angle it's difficult to determine if Pominville purposefully turned his body.

It's a judgment call, but Weight invited the judgment by making the aggressive play.