New York Rangers forward Brandon Prust has been suspended for tonight’s Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the New Jersey Devils. The official word from the NHL was that he elbowed New Jersey defenseman Anton Volchenkov in the head and could not pull away from the play. The incident occurred at 2:31 in the second period of Saturday’s game and there was no penalty called on the play.
Prust had a telephone hearing with Brendan Shanahan who is in charge of the NHL’s Department of Player Safety and tried to plea his case. However, Shanahan called the play “reckless” and that Prust flared his elbow and made no attempt to avoid Volchenkov after the puck was passed. There was an accompanying video with the announcement which you can find here.
It should be noted that Prust has never been fined or suspended in his 5 year career in the NHL.
