Blues’ Pavel Buchnevich to have hearing with NHL after vicious head butt

St. Louis Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich will have a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety on Tuesday.

Buchnevich received a match penalty after headbutting Arizona Coyotes forward Lawson Crouse late in the first period during the Blues’ 7-4 win on Monday in Glendale, Ariz. Crouse cross-checked Buchnevich twice before the latter responded with a headbutt as the two players were facing each other.

Crouse finished the game after serving a minor penalty for cross-checking Buchnevich.

Buchnevich “can’t do that”

Buchnevich, 26, scored his first goal of the season earlier in the first period on Monday. He also had an assist in St. Louis’ 5-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.

“You know something like that is going to get looked at. You can’t do that, we all know that,” head coach Craig Berube said today. “On the other side of things, I thought Crouse targeted him a little bit…he got crosschecked in the face. Things happen, that’s all I really have to say about it.”

Buchnevich was acquired from the New York Rangers on July 23 in exchange for forward Sammy Blais and a second-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. He agreed to a four-year, $23.2 million deal four days later.

Buchnveich recorded a career-high 48 points (20 goals, 28 assists) in 54 games in 2020-21. He has 197 points (80 goals, 117 assists) in 303 career games since being selected by the Rangers in the third round of the 2013 NHL Draft.

–Field Level Media

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