Brown hit with a 1-game suspension
Kings forward receives penalty for kneeing a Tampa Bay player.
League punishes Kings forward, who was ejected from Tampa Bay game for kneeing opponent.
RALEIGH, N.C. — The Kings will be without Dustin Brown when they face the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday after the forward was suspended one game following a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety.
Brown was penalized for kneeing Tampa Bay defenseman Mikhail Sergachev in the second period of Saturday’s game in Florida. That earned Brown a penalty and an ejection, punishment the league increased Sunday.
The fact that Brown is a repeat offender likely figured in the league’s decision.
Only three weeks ago, he was fined $10,000 for crosschecking Justin Schultz of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
He was suspended two games in 2013 for an illegal elbow to the head of Jason Pominville of the Minnesota Wild.
Brown is third on the team in points (38) and goals (16), and is fourth in assists (22), so his absence, even for one game, comes at a bad time.
Brown leads the team with a plus-minus rating of plus-25 and his average ice time of 19 minutes 17 seconds per game is second among forwards.
The Kings, trying to keep up in a Pacific Division playoff race that is heating up, already are without forward Trevor Lewis, who returned to Los Angeles on Saturday to be examined by the team’s medical personnel.
Lewis was injured Friday in the opener of the team’s seasonlong seven-game trip after crashing headfirst into the boards in a game against the Florida Panthers.
In addition to sittint out a game, Brown will forfeit one game’s pay, or $31,586.02. The money will go to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
kevin.baxter@latimes.com Twitter: @kbaxter11