Deryk Engelland Suspended Three Games

Derek Engelland of the Pittsburgh Penguins has been suspended three games for his hit to the head of Chicago Blackhawks forward Marcus Kruger on Tuesday night. Brendan Shanahan of the NHL's Department of Player Safety made the announcement, as always, in one of his trusty NHL.com videos.

As the video shows...

While he certainly plays a physical game and is one of the toughest fighters in the league, Engelland has never been suspended or fined in his career to date. Shanahan said he took that into consideration when determining the penalty here, but that the resulting concussion to Kruger from the hit also played a role in the decision.

It's clear that Engelland launched his body up into the head of Kruger, as Shanahan states, making the head the "principal point of contact," a violation of Rule 48. No penalty was originally assessed on the play, but now, Engelland will be out until a New Year's Eve game against the New Jersey Devils.