Sabres' Gionta hurt by illegal hit; Bruins' Bartkowski assessed misconduct

Buffalo Sabres captain Brian Gionta was tagged in the second period of Sunday evening's game against the Boston Bruins by an illegal check, thrown at the blue-line by Boston defender Matt Bartkowski.

The hit probably qualifies as interference and a rule 48 violation, and Bartkowski was penalized accordingly. The Bruins defenseman was assessed a 10-minute game misconduct for the hit, an additional five-minute major for interference, and an additional fighting major when he dropped the gloves against Marcus Foligno in the aftermath.

Here's what the hit looked like:

(Courtesy: NESN)

Nothing clean about that, sadly. Bartkowski has never dealt with supplementary discipline, but it would seem likely that this hit will be reviewed by the NHL's Department of Player Safety.

Following the hit Gionta left the Sabres bench under his own power and went down to the locker room, presumably to undergo baseline concussion testing in the quiet room. He will not return to the contest, according to the Sabres.