He got off easy, relatively speaking.
Dallas Stars right winger Ryan Garbutt has been suspended three games by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety for his slew-foot of Dustin Byfuglien on Tuesday night. It is Garbutt’s second suspension this year and his third suspension in the past two seasons and you’d have to believe that anything after this could have very dire consequences.
In theory.
The NHL considers Garbutt a repeat offender and you wonder how much harsher the punishment could have been had Byfuglien — or even Hutchinson — been injured. Garbutt was suspended only for his penalty on Byfuglien, but could just have easily been hit with a similar punishment for his trip of the Jets goaltender in the second period.
The NHL’s video breakdown explains the incident and ruling.
Garbutt had been expected by most to receive a hefty suspension, but three games seems light in relation to his recent transgressions. The response in the hockey media has been rather uniform in that Garbutt should been punished more severely and this is another case of the inconsistency of the DoPS.
Additionally, you wonder how the team will handle this. Lindy Ruff continues to call out Garbutt’s antics as unacceptable, yet he gets put right back on the ice after each suspension. We’ll see what happens he’s eligible to return on December 21 against Edmonton.