LA Kings forwards Brown, Lucic avoid suspensions from NHL

Kings captain Dustin Brown and left wing Milan Lucic avoided supplementary discipline from the NHL on Thursday after delivering a couple of debatable hits during Wednesday’s 5-1 season-opening loss to the San Jose Sharks at Staples Center.

Brown and Lucic each cracked the Sharks’ Logan Couture. Brown wasn’t penalized for what looked like a head-butt in the first period and Lucic received a match penalty in the third for charging after Couture and thumping him after receiving a hard, low but legal check moments earlier.

“I didn’t even know it was a big deal, really, until after the game,” Brown said. “I stopped. He was going north and I was going south. It wasn’t anything I thought was bad on the ice. You know on the ice when it’s borderline or not.”

Lucic’s match penalty resulted in an automatic suspension, pending a review by the league. The department of player safety then determined further punishment was not warranted and Lucic is free to join Brown and the rest of the Kings to play Friday against the Arizona Coyotes.

“I think that’s why I got a match, just because of who I am,” Lucic said. “If I made that hit (that Couture made) and someone came after me that way, he wouldn’t have gotten a match. It just comes with who you are. They review all that stuff, and there’s nothing that’s come of it.”