Devils’ Timo Meier suspended for World Championship semifinal for kneeing

A potentially costly penalty for the host nation.

On Friday, the International Ice Hockey Federation announced that Switzerland forward Timo Meier has been suspended one game for kneeing Sweden forward Oskar Sundqvist.

The incident in question came during the quarterfinal matchup between the two nations on Thursday in Zurich. A little past the halfway mark of the second period, Sundqvist was carrying the puck out of the Swedish zone. Sundqvist made a move to avoid an oncoming Meier, but the latter stuck his leg out, clipping Sunqvist’s left knee.

Sundqvist ended up leaving the ice after the hit and didn’t return to the game. Meier wasn’t penalized on the play, though he did take a cross-checking penalty after Swedish defenseman Albert Johansson came to the aid of his teammate.

Switzerland ended up pulling out a 3-1 win, advancing to the final four in its home tournament.

The IIHF disciplinary panel noted that, while Meier certainly didn’t intend to injure Sundqvist, the direct knee-on-knee contact violated the organization’s rule on kneeing. With that, Meier will miss the Swiss’ semifinal matchup against Norway on Saturday. The only way the New Jersey Devils forward will be eligible to play again is if his team advances to Sunday’s gold medal game.

Meier has been a key piece in Switzerland’s impressive run on home ice. Through eight games, he has scored three goals and eight assists for 11 points. He sits tied for third on the team in scoring, tied with captain Roman Josi for fourth among all skaters in the tournament.

The winner of Switzerland and Norway will face whoever comes out on top in a highly anticipated semifinal between Canada and Finland.