Ryan Garbutt has been here before. In fact, it was just over a year ago that the gritty Dallas Stars forward was handed a five-game suspension after leaving his feet and catching Anaheim Ducks forward Dustin Penner rather high in a game at the Honda Center.
That ban was handed out in Oct. 2013 and Garbutt, who is currently suspended two games after a knee-to-knee hit on Edmonton Oilers center Taylor Hall in a 3-2 win by Dallas on Tuesday at American Airlines Center, is hoping to get something positive out of this suspension, much like he did from the one he was issued one year ago.
"I think last year, I used this to get better," Garbutt said after morning skate on Friday. "I came back stronger and more focused. I got to try and do the same thing this year."
This marks the third time Garbutt has been sanctioned by the NHL. Besides his two suspensions, he was also fined in April after spearing Ducks captain Corey Perry during Dallas' first-round playoff series with their former Pacific Division rivals.
And considering he is someone the NHL's Department of Player Safety knows as a repeat offender, one would think that might necessitate some sort of change to how he plays.
But it doesn't sound like that's going to happen anytime soon.
"Yeah, just going to continue to play my game and do the things that got me here," Garbutt said. "I had to scratch and claw to find my way to the NHL and I'm not going to change the way I play. I'm just going to try to do things that don't hurt the team and actually do the opposite, to help the team win."
Garbutt wouldn't comment on if he's reached out to Hall since the incident earlier in the week. He also chose not to offer anything further on the hit which earned him a two-game ban.
"Well, I think they explained it in the video, Stephane Quintal did on the NHL.com website, so that's all I got to say about that," Garbutt said.
Garbutt will miss Friday's game with the Minnesota Wild and Saturday's game at the Pepsi Center against the Colorado Avalanche. He is eligible to return on Tuesday at the Air Canada Centre against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
