The NHL Department of Player Safety announced on Monday that Montreal Canadiens forward Cedric Paquette has been suspended two games for boarding Anaheim Ducks forward Trevor Zegras.
The incident happened midway through the first period of Anaheim’s 4-2 win on Sunday.
You can see the play and the NHL’s explanation for the suspension in the video below.
Paquette was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct for boarding on the play.
The DoPS makes note in the video explanation that this was not an example of Zegras turning at the last minute to turn a legal check into an illegal check, and that the onus was on Paquette to minimize the hit or avoid it completely.
Paquette has been suspended one other time in his NHL career and also fined. His history with the DoPS definitely added to the supplemental discipline here.
He will miss Montreal’s games against the Detroit Red Wings and New York Islanders this week.
Paqiette will be eligible to return to the Canadiens’ lineup on Saturday when they host the Vegas Golden Knights.
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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.