No suspension expected for Senators' Gambrell after ejection

Ottawa Senators center Dylan Gambrell. Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports

No suspension expected for Senators forward Dylan Gambrell after ejection

Originally posted on Daily Faceoff | By Zach Laing | Last updated 11/1/22

Ottawa Senators forward Dylan Gambrell was given a match penalty and ejected from a Tuesday night game against the Tampa Bay Lightning for a high hit, but no suspension is likely.

This, according to Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin, came after Gambrell caught Bolts defenseman Erik Cernak with a hit to the head.

A match penalty can cause the knee-jerk reaction of “suspend him!“ but it’s not always valid.

I wouldn’t expect additional discipline for Dylan Gambrell. Elbow popped up after — and as a result of — the contact. Cernak also bent head down right before.
— Matt Larkin (@MLarkinHockey) November 2, 2022

The incident happened in the second period. Cernak went to play a puck to the side of the Lightning net, and Gambrell went to lay a bodycheck on the rearguard. Instead of making contact with Cernak’s body, Gambrell had turned his own catching the former with a elbow to the head.

Officially, referees Furman South and Michael Markovic gave Gambrell a five-minute major for intent to injure and a two minute minor. Gambrell scored his first goal of the year 5:44 into the first period to open the scoring in the game.

Cernak, meanwhile, briefly left the game but returned to finish it out and ultimately played 18:37 in time on ice — second most among Lightning defenseman. Tampa Bay was already without No. 1 defenseman Victor Hedman, who was a game-time decision but didn’t play.

This article first appeared on Daily Faceoff and was syndicated with permission.

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