John Scott made headlines in the pre-season for attempting to fight Toronto Maple Leafs sniper Phil Kessel and now the Buffalo Sabres enforcer will find himself in hot water with NHL officials after a hit on Boston Bruins forward Loui Eriksson Wednesday.
In the third period of the Bruins’ 5-2 win in Buffalo, Scott made contact with Eriksson’s head on an open-ice hit. As Eriksson gained centre ice to dump the puck into the Sabres end, Scott hit him with a blindside hit where it appeared the principle point of contact was the head.
Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli released the following statement after the game concerning Eriksson’s health: “Loui is staying overnight in Buffalo for precautionary reasons. He is expected to return to Boston on Thursday.”
Boston blueliner Adam McQuaid came to his teammate’s defence and dropped the gloves with Scott; McQuaid was given an instigator penalty and a 10-minute misconduct for his efforts.
Scott was assessed a five-minute charging major and a match penalty in addition to his fighting major.
Eriksson struggled to get back to his feet and needed to be assisted off the ice by his teammates.
Scott, who will have an in-person hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety, has never been suspended in his five-year NHL career, but heading into Wednesday’s contest had accumulated 309 penalty minutes in 186 NHL games. Scott has just one goal and four assists during that time.
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