The highly-charged game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals has yielded two suspensions between the two protagonists, with New York Rangers forward Daniel Carcillo suspended 10 games for elbowing linesman Steve Driscoll, while the Montreal Canadiens right wing Brandon Prust suspended for two games after hitting former teammate Derek Stepan.
The NHL announced the suspensions on Friday with Carcillo's automatic ban stipulated under Rule 40.3 relating to the Physical Abuse of Officials. The rule states, as per ESPN report: "Any player who deliberately applies physical force to an official in any manner (excluding actions as set out in Category I), which physical force is applied without intent to injure, or who spits on an official, shall be automatically suspended for not less than ten (10) games."
This marks the 11th time that Carcillo will be banned in his career. He has scored two goals in his eight playoff games with the Rangers. His team leads the Canadiens, 2 games to 1. He will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, so there's a chance he may have played his last game as a Ranger.
Meanwhile, the NFL office has also announced the two-game suspension of Prust who injured Stepan with a devastating open-ice check that resulted to the latter suffering from a broken jaw. Surprisingly, Prust was not meted any penalty for that play. Stepan was to undergo surgery on Friday night and his status for the entire series is questionable.
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