New York Islanders Forward Suspended One Game

New York Islanders Jonathan Drouin Suspended One Game

The incident occurred late in the third period of the Islanders season-opener. Drouin cross-checked Pittsburgh Penguins centre Connor Dewar in the head with just 15 seconds left to go in regulation. Dewar fell to the ice after taking the check to the head.

Drouin was give a five-minute major and also ejected. The 30-year-old is in his first season with the Islanders and scored in his debut with the club. He has also played for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens, and Colorado Avalanche across his 12-year NHL career.

The Ste-Agathe, Quebec native has 108 goals and 267 assists for 375 points in 608 career games. Tampa Bay originally drafted him in the first round, third overall of the 2013 NHL Draft. He’s coming off an 11-goal campaign with the Avalanche. However, he was limited by injuries last season.

What It Means

This is the first time that Drouin has been suspended in his NHL career. He’ll forfeit $20,833 in salary, with the money going to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

Drouin had been forming some good chemistry with veteran Bo Horvat in the preseason. However, that will have to wait one game while Drouin serves his one-game suspension.

The veteran forward will get plenty of top-six minutes this season for Isles. However, his suspension will put a hole in the lineup. Head coach Patrick Roy could go with Max Tsyplakov or Anthony Duclair to take Drouin’s place for Saturday night’s game against their division rivals.