Suspended Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson just happy that my legs still worked after h -

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson seemed relatively pleased with his one-game suspension by the NHL following Sunday’s incidents involving Florida Panthers forward Nick Cousins.

Mostly, though, he was relieved to emerge from a dangerous hit with a few scrapes on his face and feeling like he’d been in a car wreck.

Gudbranson was going back on a puck in the defensive zone early in the third period of Sunday’s 5-2 loss to the Panthers when Cousins lowered his shoulder into Gudbranson’s back, sending the veteran defenseman face-first into the end boards.

His wife, Sarah, and their two children were watching the game from the lower bowl.

“That’s a bad hit,” Gudbranson said. “If that hit takes place three feet before that, I end up going down and bending my neck. That’s when you get a compression fracture, and who knows how the rest of your life is?

“My kids were 85 feet away from that hit. It’s a terrible hit. I was walking around (later that night), pacing in the hallways at home, trying to calm down and just happy that my legs still worked.”

Gudbranson will sit out Thursday’s game in Toronto — and his wallet is $20,833.33 lighter — because he made sure that wasn’t the end of it with Cousins, who received a minor penalty (boarding) on the play.

Six minutes after the hit, Gudbranson jumped Cousins as the Panthers carried the puck into the Columbus zone, throwing his gloves aside, grabbing Cousins in an angry embrace and slamming him to the ice. As Cousins ducked for cover, Gudbranson slammed five or six heavy rights into his back and neck. That was the cause of the suspension.

Asked if he was frustrated that Cousins refused to fight, Gudbranson said: “Yeah, for sure. But we’re two very different people.”

Per the NHL’s Department of Player Safety, Gudbranson was found to have violated Rule 46.2, the “Aggressor” rule, which applies when a player “continues to throw punches in an attempt to inflict punishment on his opponent who is in a defenseless position or who is an unwilling combatant.”

No arguing that. Cousins looked as if he was trying to find a hole in the ice to crawl through.

“The rule is the rule,” Gudbranson said. “I got one game for it. Take it and move on.

“I had the formal call (with the league). I expressed exactly what my feelings were and they took it, and today is where we’re at.”

Gudbranson said he felt “heard” by the league, perhaps because the call took place with former NHL enforcer George Parros, now the league’s head of player safety. Gudbranson and Parros were teammates with Florida in 2012-13, when Gudbranson was a rookie.

“That particular year, we were actually pretty close,” Gudbranson said. “I felt I could be pretty candid with him. We know each other.

“The rule is the rule when it comes to my play, and I understand that.”

Cousins was initially called for a major penalty for the hit, but the call was lessened to a minor penalty after officials looked at replays. That infuriated the Blue Jackets, and led coach Pascal Vincent to surmise that Gudbranson probably wouldn’t have attacked Cousins later in the period if the major was allowed to stand.

Gudbranson wouldn’t, or couldn’t, say.

“I can leave you guys with that question,” he said. “It’s a very difficult question to answer.”

The NHL had a rash of hits from behind in recent games, and frustration abounds with different penalties being handed out for seemingly similar hits. Gudbranson, who was punished for taking matters into his own hands, said only players can truly remove those hits from the game.

“That’s a respect thing,” he said. “That’s a respect thing among peers in this league. That’s what it is. I’ll leave it at that. Some guys in this league understand it and some guys never will.”

The Blue Jackets have already lost twice this season to the Panthers. They have one more meeting, on April 11 in Sunrise, Fla. That’s a long way away, but hockey players have long memories.

Not to worry, Gudbranson said.

“I’m good,” he said. “I’m fine with it. I did what I felt was necessary. I’m good with that.

“We’ve lost two in a row to them now. I desperately want to go take two points from them. That’s first and foremost by a country mile.”

With Gudbranson out on Thursday, the Blue Jackets will likely insert Andrew Peeke into the lineup against the Maple Leafs. But Vincent was relieved that Gudbranson would miss only one game.

“I’ve looked at that hit more than 10 times,” he said. “It could have been really bad.”

(Photo of Blue Jackets’ Erik Gudbranson and Panthers’ Nick Cousins: Ben Jackson / NHLI via Getty Images)

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