NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has decided to cut New York Rangers forward Daniel Carcillo’s suspension from 10 games to six, the league’s department of player safety announced Tuesday.
The new ruling will make Carcillo available for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final vs. the Los Angeles Kings.
Carcillo was suspended on May 23 after he appeared to elbow linesman Scott Driscoll twice. Discoll was trying to keep Carcillo away from a fight between Montreal Canadiens forward Brandon Prust and Rangers forward Derek Dorsett in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Carcillo, who appealed the initial ruling on May 24, was initially suspended for “deliberately applying physical force to an official”—Rule 40.3. But Bettman, who held a hearing with the player of Friday, found "Carcillo's actions were more appropriately deemed a violation of Rule 40.4 for deliberately applying ‘physical force to an official for the sole purpose of getting free of such official during or immediately following an altercation.’”
Carcillo has played eight games this postseason, scoring two goals. The initial suspension would have made his ineligible to play for the remainder of the postseason. He has not played in the Rangers' last three games following the incident.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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