Bartkowski won’t receive supplemental discipline

Today, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced that Bruins defenseman Matt Bartkowski will not receive supplemental discipline for his hit on Brian Gionta in the first period of last night’s game against the Buffalo Sabres.

The hit, which saw Gionta cartwheel into the air and land hard on the ice, resulted in Bartkowski’s ejection from the game. In a series of tweets, the NHL Department of Player Safety explained the decision to not issue Bartkowski further discipline beyond the penalties he amassed after the hit.

Bartkowski/Gionta is an example of incidental head contact on an otherwise full body check. pic.twitter.com/iCAyDjRwsN
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) December 22, 2014

The head is not the MAIN point of contact. Also, Gionta puts himself in a vulnerable position making contact with his head unavoidable.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) December 22, 2014

Bartkowski neither extends upward, nor does he "pick" the head.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) December 22, 2014

Bartkowski received a five-minute fighting major and a five-minute penalty for interference to go along with his game misconduct. Gionta and Marcus Foligno, who retaliated immediately after the hit, both did not return to last night’s game.

As far as Bartkowski’s opinion, he felt that the hit was not suspension-worthy.

“It’s just a play in the game. You don’t like to see players leave the game. It’s not like it was my intent to injure anybody. It was just a hit, so that’s about it,” Bartkowski said. “I was just pissed that I had to leave the game. I don’t know. I didn’t think it was worthy of [a misconduct]. I was just more pissed about that for quite a while.”

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