NEW YORK — The NHL has suspended Montreal Canadiens forward Cedric Paquette two games without pay for boarding Anaheim Ducks forward Trevor Zegras.
The incident occurred in the first period of the Ducks’ 4-2 win over Montreal on Sunday in Anaheim. Paquette was given a major penalty and game misconduct for boarding.
As part of the ruling, the veteran will forfeit $9,500 in salary. Paquette will be eligible to return when Montreal hosts the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.
After spending seven seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Paquette, 28, is in his first season with Montreal and has struggled to find his place.
The Canadiens have stumbled out of the gate, with just two wins in their first 10 games, and Paquette is a minus-1 with no points, while averaging just 8:51 of ice time across eight games.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.