Tyler Myers laughed when asked what he was thinking before cross-checking Evan Bouchard in the dying seconds of a win on Saturday.
"Not a lot," Myers told reporters two days later in Vancouver.
A few hours later, Myers learned that he had been suspended three games for the cross-check after a hearing with the NHL's Department of Player safety that he described as a "quick call."
Both Myers and Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid were suspended three games following a late-game skirmish during the Canucks' 3-2 victory.
Myers was assessed a match penalty after hitting Bouchard in the face with his stick. Per NHL rule No. 21, a match penalty carries an automatic hearing with the league.
"I know how it looks. I never intended to hit him in the face. I've never cross-checked anyone in the face in my whole career," Myers said.
"Things were getting heated there at the end. I'm not ignorant to the fact of how it looks in real time, but if you slow it down I did start lower and as he started to bring his hands up it kinda redirected my stick a little higher."
Myers said he spoke to Bouchard after the game and was glad he was OK.
Vancouver had dropped six of its previous seven games before eking out the Saturday win over its divisional rival.
"When we take a look at the way we were last game, the way we were in the dressing room last game, that's the level we want to get to more consistently," Myers said.
"We have these ebbs and flows and good games and then slipping for one or two. We got to find a way to sustain that level of commitment."
However, Myers won't be available when the Canucks return to the ice Tuesday to host the Buffalo Sabres.
It may not be the only change to the Vancouver lineup, either, as rumours continue to swirl about a trade of star forward J.T. Miller.
"There's rumours all the time, maybe more than usual right now, but we've all dealt with this before," Myers said. "For us it's what happens in this room right here. We're not too worried about what's being talked about or what may or may not happen. We gotta come together as a group and bring that level that we did last game."
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