Boston Bruins defenseman Matt Bartkowski received a game misconduct Sunday for a first-period hit on Buffalo Sabres winger Brian Gionta, but he won’t receive any supplemental discipline from the NHL.
The hit was bad enough to take Gionta out for the rest of the game, but the NHL Department of Player safety explained Monday that Bartkowski’s contact to Gionta’s head was incidental.
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Bartkowski echoed these sentiments Monday, saying that he had no intention of injuring Gionta.
“I watched the replay, and I didn’t see any head contact,” Bartkowski said, per the Bruins’ website. “It wasn’t like I was trying to hit him in the head or anything. I was just riding the line, and it was just a play in the game.”
Bruins coach Claude Julien recognized the events that put Gionta and Bartkowski into an unfortunate situation, too.
“I’ve looked at it again closely this morning and you know, Brian Gionta is not a real tall player to start with, and the pass is a little ahead of him, so he has to reach, which puts him in an even lower position there, so I don’t think there was any ill intent on Bart to try and injure him,” Julien said. “When you see how he falls, the heads hits the ice, and that’s where I think he gets hurt more than anything else. Just from looking at it, I don’t know what he’s been assessed with and what his injury is, but again, it’s an unfortunate thing.”
Thumbnail photo Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
