Jeff Skinner's cross-check against Pittsburgh Penguins Jake Guentzel cost him three games.
In the closing seconds in a tie game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres, tensions began to boil over.
After Penguins forward Jake Guentzel gave a late poke check to Sabres goalie Craig Anderson, Jeff Skinner attempted to stick up for his teammate.
A couple of slashes were exchanged between the two before Skinner caught Guentzel up high with a cross-check.
Skinner was given a five-minute misconduct and ejected from the game; the Penguins capitalized on the power play and won the game in overtime.
A few retaliation punches came from Guentzel and his Penguins teammates, but there wasn’t much discipline from game referees.
Guentzel did serve two minutes for slashing, as well, but he was able to keep his emotions mostly in check during the scene.
The NHL Department of Player Safety filed a hearing for Skinner thanks to the high cross-check, and they slapped him with a three-gam suspension.
The cross check was egregious and it was expected at least a game suspension was in the cards because the two teams were set to face off in the second half of a home-and-home situation.
The NHL stated that Skinner does not have any relevant history with player safety, but gave him three games thanks to the aggressive and purposeful nature of the cross-check.
Guentzel was not injured during the encounter and is expected to be in the lineup for the second half of the two-day duel.
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