Gostisbehere suspended for two games

In normal times, it could be opined that Shayne Gostisbehere got off a touch easy for venting a little frustration on an old teammate Tuesday night.

The NHL Department of Player Safety dropped a two-game suspension on the Flyers defenseman Wednesday for what it termed a “dangerous” boarding infraction on Penguins defenseman and former Flyer Mark Friedman.

Presumably, Gostisbehere would miss two games in Washington against the Capitals, then be available for the last Flyers game of the season, Monday night at Wells Fargo Center against the Devils.

Whether Gostisbehere was just frustrated at what the season produced for him and his team, or whether there are any hard feelings from when he was in the same locker room with Friedman isn’t known. What was obvious was that Gostisbehere planted a stickfirst push to Friedman’s back and sent him careening into the boards in the waning minutes of a 7-3 home loss to the Penguins.

Friedman was in the process of finishing off the win by skating down with the puck en route to scoring an empty net goal. After Friedman scored, Ghost gave him an ugly helping hand and Friedman crashed into the boards. Gostisbehere was assessed a minor penalty for crosschecking at the time, but the Player Safety department called it boarding, handing him the twogame suspension that will cost Gostisbehere $77,586.

That would be fine and dandy except the Department of Player Safety is under some intense fan scrutiny right now for a laughable (and maximum) $5,000 fine, but no suspension, to Tom Wilson assaulting the Rangers’ Pavel Buchnevich Tuesday. That created a ridiculous all-out brawl at the first drop of the puck between the teams Wednesday.

Anyway, a video of the Gostisbehere incident released by the department cited him for raising “his stick and (delivering) a sharp shove from behind to Friedman’s back, that sends him dangerously into the boards.”

The video statement also made clear the crosscheck/board (pick one) infraction came “significantly after the puck enters the net, well past the time Friedman should reasonably expect and prepare for contact.”

The statement did point out that Gostisbehere had never been fined or suspended before in his 380-game NHL career, which probably helped lighten the penalty a bit.