Flyers Claude Giroux Suspended 1 Game

Flyers forward Claude Giroux was hit with a one-game suspension by the NHL on Monday afternoon for his hit on Devils forward Dainius Zubrus in Game 4.

 
The 23-year-old centerman will miss Game 5 Tuesday night against the New Jersey Devils at the Wells Fargo Center.
 
During his video explanation of the hit and suspension, NHL Lord of Discipline Brendan Shanahan said that Giroux earned supplementary discipline for his “reckless picking of the head” of Zubrus.
 
New Jersey leads Eastern Conference semifinal series 3-1 and can eliminate the Flyers.

Of the ruling, Giroux told a team spokesman he "respects the decision and wants to move on."
 
Giroux, the NHL’s leading scorer in the playoffs with 17 points, had a high shoulder hit to the head of Zubrus late in the second period of Sunday’s 4-2 loss in Game 4. Zubrus returned to play in the final period.
 
“I was just trying to finish my hit, and he kind of leaned in and I kind of hit him, my shoulder to his head,” Giroux said of the hit about an hour before he was suspended.
 
“My elbow was down. I didn’t jump. It’s a good thing he didn’t get hurt. Obviously, I’m a pretty honest player. I’m not a dirty player, I’m not there to hurt anybody. I was just trying to finish my hit.”
 
This is Giroux’s first NHL suspension. He is not a head hunter and has no disciplinary history, which is why many thought he would merely be fined.
 
The background to the hit was this: Devils goalie Marty Brodeur had played a puck outside the trapezoid, and Giroux argued with the officials and Patrik Elias while coming up the ice. Giroux then turned off Elias and skated straight for Zubrus.
 
Giroux, who admitted he was frustrated with the lack of a call against Brodeur, had a phone hearing with Shanahan on Monday morning.
 
“In the playoffs he’s got a lot to work on,” Giroux said of Shanny. “There’s a lot of suspensions. Whatever decision he decides, I’m going to respect it, and we’ll go from there.”
 
In the Pittsburgh series, three Penguins were suspended for Game 4 against the Flyers. Pittsburgh responded with a 10-3 rout.

“Teams in that situation have a tendency to rise to the occasion,” said Devils coach Pete DeBoer.

The Flyers can only hope to do the same.