Suspension likely coming for Carcillo

Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice called it "a vicious cross-check to an unsuspecting player."

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville, when asked if Daniel Carcillo's hit to Mathieu Perreault's arm Friday night was a hockey play, responded: "A hockey play? I think he was coming at him. It was one of those instincts."

Carcillo on Saturday morning explained it this way: "I was just trying to knock him off (the play). I didn't think it was very malicious or anything. You know?"

But the most important group to hear from was the NHL's Department of Player Safety, who finally checked in Saturday evening, announcing that Carcillo will be offered an in-person hearing for his actions against Perreault.

Because it is an in-person hearing rather than one over the phone, the veteran forward may be suspended for more than five games.

If Carcillo is indeed suspended, it wouldn't be his first time, something that may play against him.

"He's got to make sure of the boundaries," Quenneville said before the hearing was announced. "That leash is so tight that you don't want to go the wrong way where all of a sudden you're in the box or things like that.

"Intensity and playing hard is part of it, so you have to make sure being smart is part of the big equation."