Mathieu Joseph Says His Hit On Dylan Larkin Was An Accident, Which Many Fans Don't Believe Is True

Ottawa Senators forward Mathieu Joseph spoke with the media for the first time about his hit that knocked out Dylan Larkin.

On Saturday evening, the Detroit Red Wings were on a power play in the first period. Larkin, Detroit’s captain, scrambled toward a loose puck in front of the net. Jospeh skated down towards the mosh pit and tried to remove Larkin from the play.

However, he took a rather aggressive approach in the process. The Senators’ forward punched Larkin across the back of the head and sent him sprawling to the floor unconscious.

For the first time since it happened, the forward provided his perspective on the play. 

“It happened so fast.You see a guy and the puck is right there,” Jospeh said Monday. “You're just trying to box him out in front of the net. I didn’t even know what happened at the time.”

He expressed remorse for the action and reiterated that he didn’t try to do anything on purpose.

“I think it was an unfortunate situation,” he continued. “You're not trying to hurt anyone out there. It’s part of the game.”

Not Everyone Believes Matthieu Joseph

While it is nice that he ended up apologizing for his actions, it’s hard to look at that clip and say he accidentally hit Dylan Larkin in the head. A box out attempt involves shoving a guy in the midsection, not sucker punching him in the head. But I could be wrong, maybe it was an errant hit and Joseph made an unfortunate mistake.

However, social media had mixed reactions to Joseph's explanation. Some people chose not to give him the benefit of the doubt and characterized his response as a lie.

Others chose to side with Joseph and said Red Wings fans were overreacting.

Regardless of the intent, head coach Derek Lalonde said Larkin is heading to the injured reserve.

Best of luck to Larkin in his recovery. And hopefully Joseph will be more careful next time on his box outs.