The NHL Department of Player Safety said Bryan Rust chose a poor angle of approach and delivered a hit with reckless force that picked Brock Boeser's head as the main point of contact.
The NHL's Department of Player Safety suspended Pittsburgh Penguins left winger Bryan Rust for three games on Tuesday.
Rust will forfeit $80,078.13 of his salary for his illegal check to the head of Vancouver Canucks right winger Brock Boeser last Sunday. Boeser was injured on the play.
With three seconds left in the Penguins' 3-2 victory over Vancouver, the Canucks had an empty net and were in Pittsburgh's zone looking for the equalizer.
"During a net-front scramble at the Penguins' goal, Boeser looks to collect the puck as Rust skates in from the slot," the player safety department said in a video. "As Boeser finds the puck and attempts to play it toward the net, Rust loads up and delivers a high, hard check that misses Boeser's core, picking his head and making it the main point of contact on a check where such head contact was avoidable."
Rust chose a poor angle of approach, which caused him to cut across the front of Boeser's body and hit him with reckless force, the department said.
"If Rust wants to deliver this check, he must stay low and take an angle that hits through the shoulder and core, rather than one that makes the head the main point of contact," the video added.
This is the first time Rust received supplemental discipline in his 685-game NHL career. He has 18 goals and 21 assists for 39 points in 47 games this season.
Rust will miss Pittsburgh's next three games against the Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers and Ottawa Senators.
Boeser, meanwhile, is on the Canucks' injured reserve. He is ruled out of action until at least next Monday.
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