Columbus Blue Jackets forward Mathieu Olivier seems likely to be getting a call from the Department of Player Safety in the coming days.
Olivier was assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct on Tuesday for slashing Florida Panthers defenceman Uvis Balinskis.
The 29-year-old Blue Jacket slashed Balinskis between the legs from behind after the two battled for a puck along the boards in the Florida end.
Balinskis immediately went down to the ice in pain. Officials reviewed the play before deciding to eject Olivier.
Olivier was a minus-1 in 9:13 of ice time in the game. After the game Olivier spoke to the media and said he apologized to his teammates for his actions.
"I can sit here and try to rationalize it all I want with you. I don't even have an explanation for it. It looked bad. It was bad and that's on me," he said, according to Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers. "I apologize to my teammates for putting them in that spot and it's happened a couple times this year. It's usually not what I do, but it's been happening, so I need to look in the mirror and figure it out. That's all on me."
The right-shot winger entered Tuesday's contest with two goals in the first four games this season.
Balinskis briefly left the game but did return. The Panthers won the game 7-3.
