Two weeks ago, Rene Bourque of the Calgary Flames was suspended two games for a questionable hit on Brent Seatbook of the Chicago Blackhawks; a Shanaban on a check that had a significant amount of gray area.
Slightly less gray area on this hit against Nicklas Backstrom of the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night -- an elbow to the head for which Bourque seemed to go out of his way to complete:
Slo-mo:
Bourque was given a two-minute minor for elbowing. Backstrom had one more shift on the power play after the hit, and then was being evaluated by medical staff after the game.
The Flames forward has played with an edge for years. You can argue whether or not he crossed it with Seabrook, but he's now "in the system" for the Dept. of Player Safety. Hard to imagine, if Backstrom's injured, they're not acting on this.