Flyers’ Rinaldo banned eight games for Letang hit

Zac Rinaldo. (Julio Cortez/AP)

NEW YORK — The NHL has suspended Flyers forward Zac Rinaldo for eight games for charging and boarding Penguins defenceman Kris Letang.

Rinaldo is considered a repeat offender under the terms of the league’s labour agreement. He loses $73,170.72 in salary, which goes to the players’ emergency assistance fund.

The play occurred at 15:36 of the first period of Philadelphia’s 3-2 overtime victory last Tuesday. Rinaldo was assessed a major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct.

The NHL announced the punishment on Monday.

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.