Boko Imama plays tough. He hits hard. But he isn't one to play dirty, or intend to injure others.

The Flyers' Garnet Hathaway was at the receiving end of an Imama interference penalty, though, and the result was pretty scary.

Those two had been jawing at each other earlier in the game, then were on the ice together again in the second period. Hathaway laid a hit on Noel Acciari, and Imama quickly retaliated with an open-ice hit on an unsuspecting Hathaway. Hathaway didn't have the puck, was blindsided, and fell to the ice awkwardly:

Hathaway was down for some time before leaving with substantial assistance. He didn't return.

Now, that's definitely a penalty. It's blatant interference -- Hathaway wasn't near the puck. But was it a major or a minor?

Imama was initially assessed a major, but officials reviewed and rescinded the penalty to a minor. The difference between a major and a minor is solely a matter of the referee's discretion based on the degree of violence.

John Tortorella disagreed with the penalty being reduced and was irate, yelling at the officials from the bench. The minor penalty proved to be costly for the Penguins regardless, with Matvei Michkov scoring on the ensuing power play. 

Tortorella didn't have any update on Hathaway after, and said that the explanation he received from the officials on the penalty being changed from a major to a minor was that "it was not a hit to the head, he hit his head on the ice."

"It's probably one of the dirtiest hits I've seen in quite a while," Tortorella continued. "That's why he hits his head on the ice. I believe we should be thinking about what really happened on the hit, not get glued on a hit to the head originally. That's a dangerous, cheap hit. (The referee) gave me the explanation, and I understand the explanation, but I don't understand how you end up with two minutes on probably one of the dirtiest hits I've seen in quite awhile."

Tortorella clarified, though, that he didn't believe Imama was attempting to injure Hathaway the way he did.

"I don't think the player is trying to hurt a player," he said. "I am certainly not going to accuse him of that. It's a cheap hit, though. Garnet hits Acciari there, I think it's a good, legal hit. I think (Imama's) trying to hit back, but the puck's nowhere there. It's a blind hit, but I'm not accusing the guy of trying to hurt him. But it's a dirty hit."

I can see why the major penalty was initially assessed. It was quick, Hathaway went down hard, and looked to be knocked out. But even though it was interference, that was a shoulder-to-shoulder hit, and not even a hard one at that. It was on an unsuspecting player, and should have been penalized. First calling it a major penalty was really the right move, too -- it allowed officials the opportunity to review it and get the call right. If a player appears to be out cold on the ice, you'd rather see officials err on it being a major and reduce it if warranted, rather than under-call it and risk calling a minor that should have been a major.

Mike Sullivan didn't seem to have too much of a problem with the hit. After serving his penalty, Imama didn't miss a shift, and nearly scored on a breakaway the next time he was on the ice.

"Boko brings a ton of energy to our team," Sullivan said. "The guys really like him. He's a great teammate. He plays the game hard, just an honest guy."