This is not a good look for Ottawa Senators forward Alex Burrows.
Midway through the second period of their game against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night, Burrows had a bit of a meltdown and went after Taylor Hall during a skirmish around the net.
Burrows threw Hall to the ground, took a swing at him while he was on the ice, then repeatedly kneed him in the head.
Have a look.
Now, Burrows will have to explain himself to George Parros and the league’s player safety department.
Ottawa’s Alexandre Burrows has waived his right to an in-person hearing for aggressor/ kneeing New Jersey’s Taylor Hall. A hearing will be held via telephone. Date and time TBD.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) February 7, 2018
The telephone hearing for Ottawa’s Alexandre Burrows will be conducted this afternoon. Please see our previous tweet for more information.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) February 7, 2018
That in-person hearing gives the NHL the option to suspend Burrows for six-games or more.
Burrows ended up getting a two-minute minor for cross-checking and a two-minute minor for roughing.
The Senators were winning the game, 4-1, at the time of that incident.
Hall responded by scoring his 19th goal of the season on the ensuing power play.
“He punched me in the back of the head like 10 times. He kind of lost his mind,” Hall told Devils team reporter Amanda Stein after the game. “He’s losing his mind. He kneed me in the back of the head at one point too. He has a bit of a reputation for Player Safety stuff. I think he’s cleaned it up a lot in the recent past. But that didn’t feel great when he was rabbit punching me there.”
Devils coach John Hynes was short and sweet when asked to comment on Burrows.
“He is what he is,” Hynes told Stein.
Burrows has had his run-ins with the league’s disciplinary committee in the past.
In 2014, he was given a three-game ban for this:
And while not suspended for it, who can forget this?:
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.