Los Angeles Kings forward Brendan Lemieux was suspended five games on Tuesday for biting Ottawa Senators forward Brady Tkachuk.
In a video released by the NHL’s department of player safety, the league said Lemieux bit down on Tkachuk’s left hand “with a substantial amount of force.”
Lemieux and Tkachuk were grappling on the ice in the third period of Saturday night’s game won 4-2 by the Kings over Ottawa before Tkachuk emerged with blood on his hand and told officials he had been bit.
The play was reviewed and Lemieux was assessed a five-minute major, match penalty and game misconduct.
Los Angeles’ Brendan Lemieux has been suspended for five games for Biting Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk. <a href=”https://t.co/mGPTYVfR4r”>https://t.co/mGPTYVfR4r</a>
—@NHLPlayerSafety
While Tkachuk claimed he was bit multiple times and the NHL video narrator said “circumstantial evidence” backed that up, Lemieux was only punished for the initial bite.
The narrator also says the video does not support Lemieux’s claim that Tkachuk was bleeding from punching his teeth, based on referee reports and medical examinations.
A furious Tkachuk told The Ottawa Sun after the game the incident was “outrageous.”
“Kids don’t even do that anymore. Babies do that. I don’t even know what he was thinking. He’s just a complete brick head. He’s got nothing up there. Bad guy, bad player, but what a joke he is.
“It was the most gutless thing somebody can ever do. This guy, you can ask any one of his teammates, nobody ever wants to play with him. This guy is a bad guy and a bad teammate; he focuses on himself all the time.”