Pens' Barrasso Suspended

Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tom Barrasso, who has missed most of the season with a knee injury, drew a four-game suspension Monday for slashing Yanic Perreault of Toronto.

Perreault's left forearm was broken when Barrasso slashed him during the second period of the Maple Leafs' 3-2 overtime victory Saturday. Perreault needed surgery to repair the break.

Barrasso had returned to the lineup only a week earlier after sitting out six weeks with the knee injury. The suspension is the first of his 17-year career.

"It's tough for us," Penguins coach Kevin Constantine said. "It would seem that a four-game punishment means that they think there was some intent on Tommy's part to injure somebody."

That was not the case Constantine said . Barrasso, who is eligible to return Dec. 15 at Carolina, was not penalized on the play.

"That move of bringing your stick around to poke-check a player on the other team is something I've seen in hockey forever," Constantine said. "Yeah, that stick got a little high, which isn't great, but there certainly wasn't any intent to injure somebody."

Barrasso, who didn't comment, is the second Penguins player to be suspended this season. Defenseman Darius Kasparaitis received a two-game suspension in October for a hit on Chicago's J.P. Dumont.

"I was surprised that Tommy got four games," Kasparaitis said. "I thought he might get just a fine, because I didn't think he did it intentionally. It was just part of the play, but the league is looking for something like that. And that's going to be bad for us, because we're going to miss Tommy.

"The league is looking for the dirty stuff on the ice, and they think Tommy did something. But it happens quick. You don't mean to hurt a guy or do anything like that."

Barrasso's suspension begins Tuesday, when the Penguins play at New Jersey. Goaltender Jean-Sebastien Aubin was recalled from Wilkes-Barre-Scranton (AHL), but Constantine did not say whether Aubin or Peter Skudra would start Tuesday.

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