Dallas Stars forward Ryan Garbutt has been suspended two games by the NHL for kneeing Edmonton Oilers forward Taylor Hall. The hit happened at 12:17 of the third period of Tuesday night’s game.
Garbutt was given a two-minute minor for tripping on the play. Referees for the game were Brad Watson and Dean Morton.
Garbutt spoke with Mike Heika of the Dallas News:
- On what he saw with the hit: “Well, I think they explained it in the video, Stephane Quintal did on the NHL.com website, so that’s all I got to say about that.”
- On if he and head coach Lindy Ruff have talked about going over the line: “Um, no not as much, but I think last year, I used this to get better. I came back stronger and more focused. I’ve got to try and do the same thing this year.”
- On the system being tough for a repeat offender: “Yeah, just going to continue to play my game and do the things that got me here. I had to scratch and claw to find my way to the NHL and I’m not going to change the way I play. I’m just going to try to do things that don’t hurt the team and actually do the opposite, to help the team win.”
- On if he reached out to Taylor Hall: “Um, I have no comment to that.”
As the Department of Player Safety says, the ‘onus is on Garbutt to deliver a legal body check’ on the play:
This is Garbutt’s second suspension in the past 18 months. The Stars winger was suspended last October for a headshot on Dustin Penner. He was also fined for spearing Ryan Getzlaf in the groin back in April.
As a repeat offender, Garbutt will forfeit $43,902 in salary.
Garbutt will be eligible to return on December 2, when the Stars take on the Maple Leafs in Toronto.
