Sabres' Zhitnik Suspended

The NHL suspended Buffalo Sabres defenseman Alexei Zhitnik for four games over a high-sticking incident during Tuesday night's game at Montreal.

Zhitnik was penalized for hitting Montreal's Andrei Markov in the head with his stick with less than two minutes remaining in the game. The Canadiens took advantage of the power play opportunity to score with 58 seconds left for a 4-3 victory.

"All I can say is that it wasn't intentional," Zhitnik said after Wednesday's practice. "I was trying to jump around him and my stick was up and I guess his head was right there."

After the game, he had said it was a "stupid" penalty to commit.

Zhitnik will begin serving his suspension Friday when the Sabres take on Anaheim in Buffalo.

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