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Hawks’ Daniel Carcillo frustrated by latest suspension

Daniel Carcillo’s first trip to the principal’s office as a member of the Blackhawks didn’t go well Saturday.

Carcillo was slapped with a two-game suspension by the NHL for his hit on Carolina defenseman Joni Pitkanen in Friday’s loss.

Carcillo was disciplined even though referees Eric Furlatt and Ghislain Hebert failed to call a penalty on the play.

Carcillo and Pitkanen were chasing a loose puck when Rob Blake from the NHL’s player safety office said the Hawks’ winger “recklessly” hit Pitkanen from behind into the end boards.

“Carcillo leans on Pitkanen from behind,” Blake said. “It was an illegal check. Carcillo pushes a defenseless player from behind.”

Pitkanen went to the dressing room briefly but quickly returned and finished the game.

Neither Carcillo nor Hawks coach Joel Quenneville agreed with the league’s decision.

“It’s a tough pill to swallow right now,” said a frustrated Carcillo. “I’ve never been suspended for a hit and there are hundreds every year.

“I just tried to make a good play on the puck. Maybe I was leaning on him, but I felt he lost his edge and he went into the boards, and that was that. I don’t know what I could have done in that situation to make it less careless or less reckless.

“There’s not too much leeway for me in this league. Maybe give some serious thought to changing my last name or something.”

Quenneville felt Pitkanen already was going down to the ice.

“You don’t get a penalty and the guy doesn’t miss a shift,” Quenneville said. “I watched the play and you can look at the play and he’s off-balance before there’s contact, in my eyes. That’s how I saw it. So whether he touched him or not he was going down prior to getting hit.

“There’s no penalty, there was no injury and (Pitkanen) played the most minutes in the game (for the Hurricanes).”

This is the second suspension this season and the fifth of his career for Carcillo, who missed the Hawks’ first two games because of an altercation with an official in the playoffs last spring while he was playing for Philadelphia.

Carcillo missed Saturday’s game against Columbus and also must sit out Monday when the Hawks play Nashville.

“(Carcillo) has never faced supplemental discipline for an illegal bodycheck, but we can’t ignore the fact there have been suspensions multiple times,” Blake said.

Tip-ins:With Daniel Carcillo suspended, John Scott dressed as a forward and not Rostislav Olesz, who sat for the seventh straight game. ... Defenseman Sami Lepisto also played for the first time since opening night with 40-year-old Sean O#146;Donnell getting a rest. ... Kyle Beach has a shoulder injury and is sidelined indefinitely at Rockford.

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