Breaking news: The NHL has announced that Carolina Hurricanes forward Jeff Skinner has been suspended for two games following an incident in last night's game against the St. Louis Blues.
Late in the second period, Skinner was knocked down in a play along the boards by St. Louis forward Scott Nichol. From the ice, Skinner used his skate blade to push Nichol away, as shown in the explanation video that follows below from Brendan Shanahan, NHL Senior VP of Player Safety and Hockey Operations. The action was determined to be in violation of Rule 49, Kicking, and was characterized as dangerous and unacceptable.
In the video, Shanahan also mentions that Skinner was recently warned about a possible slew foot (not referenced specifically but assumed to be for an incident against Dmitry Orlov in a game against the Washington Capitals on March 6th). The fact that Nichol was not injured was also taken into account.
The NHL's news release is below, along with Shanahan's explanation video from NHL.com.
Carolina Hurricanes forward Jeff Skinner has been suspended for two games, without pay, for kicking St. Louis Blues forward Scott Nichol during NHL Game #1055 in Carolina on Thursday, March 15, the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety announced today.
Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Skinner will forfeit $9,729.72. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
The incident occurred at 19:03 of the second period. No penalty was assessed on the play.