The game was barely a minute old when Columbus Blue Jackets forward David Clarkson was booted from Thursday’s preseason contest against the Minnesota Wild and now the question is if that will be the extent of his punishment.
Clarkson received a five-minute major and game misconduct for kneeing Justin Fontaine. The game wasn’t televised, but the league has requested footage of the incident so the Blue Jackets will be providing it to them, per the Columbus Dispatch’s Aaron Portzline.
If the league does feel this incident warrants supplemental discipline, then it wouldn’t be the first time that Clarkson has been punished by the league prior to the start of a campaign. He also served a 10-game suspension after leaving the bench during a 2013 preseason contest to join a fight.
Clarkson said he doesn’t believe it was a pure knee-on-knee hit, arguing that there was more foot or ankle contact, according to the Dispatch’s Shawn Mitchell.
Fontaine left the game after the incident. He attempted to return before exiting the contest again. Wild coach Mike Yeo said the 27-year-old forward has a bruised leg and sore side.