Columbus Blue Jackets forward Blake Comeau was in his second game back after five nights in the pressbox, and he was determined to make an impact in the lineup.
Unfortunately, his impact on Wings’ Brendan Smith has him right back out of the Columbus lineup. He’s been suspended two games for this hit:
Comeau was assessed a minor penalty for boarding and one for diving at 12:47 of the first period. Smith was given a penalty for cross-checking.
Here’s a summary of the exchange via @JJfromKansas over at Winging In In Motown:
Comeau drives Smith face-first into the boards on a forecheck. Smith responds by cross-checking Comeau, who sells it and gets the extra minor. Smith is lucky here.
From the NHL:
Columbus Blue Jackets forward Blake Comeau has been suspended for two games, without pay, for boarding Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith during NHL Game No. 979 in Columbus on Tuesday, March 11, the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety announced today.
The incident occurred at 12:47 of the first period. Comeau was assessed a minor penalty for boarding.
Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and, based on his average annual salary, Comeau will forfeit $10,256.42. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
Comeau also took out Red Wings forward Tomas Jurco with a cross-check in the second period. Jurco did not skate in the third and is day-to-day with a rib injury. There was no penalty on that play.
“He just hit me kind of hard; it was really sore,” Jurco said via MLive.com. “I didn’t think it would be good idea to skate around the ice, play at 50 percent. I couldn’t battle anymore for pucks, so I decided it would help team more (to sit out) than me just skating around and not doing anything.”
Officials for the game were Justin St. Pierre and Brad Watson.
