He has been suspended the next two games for that hit. The incident had occurred in the third period in Sunday's game. He struck Miller in the back near the back boards in the Boston end and Miller went into the boards face-first, left the game, and did not return. No penalty was called on that play.
Phaneuf will lose $66,666.66 (lot of sixes) in lost pay.
This comes on the heels of James Neal being suspended for five games for kneeing Brad Marchand in the head while he was on the ice and there is still a hearing scheduled for the Bruins' Shawn Thornton.
This is his first infraction, but Phaneuf knows better than to make a vulnerable play and push a player into the boards. We've seen that happen already this year with Maxim Lapierre pushing Dan Boyle and he got suspended five games. Although this hit didn't have as much severity as the Lapierre hit, this has suspension written all over it. You can't make a play that's going to injure another player. It'll only get you out of the game for a few games. 2 games is enough on this. Again, he's not a repeat offender and this didn't have a lot of severity on it, but when there's a player vulnerable and you make a hit like what Phaneuf did, you're going to be getting a hearing from Shanahan.
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