Sabres' Jeff Skinner suspended 3 games for cross-checking Penguins' Jake Guentzel

Buffalo Sabres forward Jeff Skinner was suspended three games by the NHL on Saturday as a result of a cross-check he delivered to the face of Penguins forward Jake Guentzel on Friday.

At 19 minutes, 38 seconds of the third period in a 4-3 overtime win by the Penguins, Sabres goaltender Craig Anderson smothered a puck to freeze play and was jabbed by Guentzel after the fact. Skinner took umbrage over Guentzel’s actions and the two began to exchange slashes near the home bench.

Eventually, that confrontation rose to the level of Skinner delivering two cross-checks to Guentzel, the second to Guentzel’s face. Skinner then wrestled Guentzel to the ice as other players swarmed around them in a scrum.

Skinner was issued a minor penalty as well as a match penalty, the latter of which carries an automatic suspension pending review by the league.

In a video posted to the league’s Web site, a narrator explains:

“It is important to note that this is not a case of a stick riding up unintentionally as players battle for position in front of the net or come together naturally during the course of play. Skinner initiates an altercation here that ends with him aggressively and purposefully striking an opponent in the face with his stick with sufficient force to merit supplemental discipline.”

Guentzel was not seriously injured on the sequence.

Skinner has little in the way of history with supplemental discipline. In March 2012, he was suspended for two games after kicking an opponent.

In 27 games this season, Skinner has 32 points (13 goals, 19 assists), second most on the Sabres.

Skinner will serve the first game of his suspension Saturday when the Penguins host the Sabres at 7 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena.

Per a statement from the league, Skinner will forfeit $145,945.95 as a result of the suspension.

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