Former Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich suspended for head butt incident
St. Louis Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich was suspended two games by NHL Department of Player Safety on Tuesday.
Buchnevich received a match penalty after headbutting Arizona Coyotes forward Lawson Crouse late in the first period during the Blues’ 7-4 win on Monday in Glendale, Ariz. Crouse cross-checked Buchnevich twice before the latter responded with a headbutt as the two players were facing each other.
Crouse finished the game after serving a minor penalty for cross-checking Buchnevich.
Buchnevich suspended two games
“You know something like that is going to get looked at. You can’t do that, we all know that,” head coach Craig Berube said today. “On the other side of things, I thought Crouse targeted him a little bit…he got crosschecked in the face. Things happen, that’s all I really have to say about it.”
Buchnevich is considered a repeat offender under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and, based on his average annual salary, will forfeit $141,463.42. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
Buchnevich, 26, also scored his first goal of the season earlier in the first period on Monday. He also had an assist in St. Louis’ 5-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.
Buchnevich was acquired from the New York Rangers on July 23 in exchange for forward Sammy Blais and a second-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. He agreed to a four-year, $23.2 million deal four days later.
Buchnveich recorded a career-high 48 points (20 goals, 28 assists) in 54 games in 2020-21. He has 197 points (80 goals, 117 assists) in 303 career games since being selected by the Rangers in the third round of the 2013 NHL Draft.
–Field Level Media contributed to this report
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