FanHouse Andrew Peters

During Tuesday night's game between the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres, we showed you some video of Jarkko Ruutu taking a bite out of Andrew Peters during a first period altercation. In what can only be described as confusing, maybe even a little ridiculous, Peters received the only penalty on the play, picking up a two-minute minor for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Today, the NHL announced that Ruutu will be suspended two games for his actions. Following the game, Ruutu denied the incident even took place. Peters' response?

"I don't think if I did something that stupid I'd really be admitting to it either," Peters said. "It goes too far for any player. It doesn't matter who you are, it's not part of hockey."

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said he wasn't going to overreact to the incident, and even called it "humourous" and that "games need a little spice."

Funny, needing a little spice is probably would Ruutu had to say about Peters' hand.

This is Ruutu's second suspension of the season, as he received a two-game banishment for elbowing Montreal's Maxim Lapierre in the head. Combined, his two suspensions still don't equal the punishment handed out to Sean Avery for making a sex joke. I'm still not sure how that makes any sense.

I don't know what the Thrashers give-a-crap level was at, but the Penguins certainly kicked their give-a-crap level up a few notches as they snapped a five-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over Atlanta. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28-of-29 shots, while Petr Sykora scored a pair of goals in the win.

Not only did Pittsburgh ends its losing streak, it also ended an 0-for-32 power play drought by going 2-for-6 with the man advantage.

It was a costly win of sorts for the Penguins, as Ruslan Fedotenko and Pascal Dupuis left the game with injuries and did not return. Both players had been playing, perhaps, their best hockey of the season in recent weeks.

Fedotenko appeared to suffer a hand injury when he punched out Colby Armstrong in the first period. It was perhaps the shortest fight of the season, as it consisted of one Fedotenko punch to the jaw, and Armstrong attempting to throw one when both players were on the ice. Fedotenko could be seen shaking his hand as he went to the penalty box, and then headed directly to the locker room and did not return.

Alex Goligoski was again a healthy scratch, as head coach Michel Therrien used the same lineup he used in New York the night before, with much better results. Evgeni Malkin recorded three assists, while Sidney Crosby scored his 16th goal of the season.

Ilya Kovalchuk scored the lone goal for Atlanta late in the third period, ending Fleury's shutout bid.

In what has been perhaps the most bizarre week of fighting in the history of hockey goonism, Ottawa Senators forward Jarkko Ruutu has seemingly upped the ante. In the first period of Tuesday's game, Ruutu took a bite out of Sabres forward Andrew Peters.



Ruutu was not penalized for his actions -- how does the referee signal two-minutes for biting? Does he pull out a sandwich and eat it? -- while Peters was handed a two-minute minor for unsportsmanlike conduct. It's possible that Ruutu will be facing a suspension from the league -- that is, if the NHL's wheel of discipline remains consistent. Then again, when has that ever happened?

One wonders just how much longer the league is going to continue to tolerate the traveling goon show that is the Philadelphia Flyers. Just when it seemed as if the team might be able to get through at least a week of the new year without some sort of disciplinary hearing, it looks as if Colin Campbell will have at least a case file or two to review over the next few days. To review:

• It all started Friday night when Travis Zajac of the New Jersey Devils reported that Philly's Derian Hatcher, a player who has been having a touch of trouble adapting to the "new" NHL over the past few seasons, bit him in the midst of a scrum on Friday night in New Jersey (video evidence here). The NHL has already decided to look the other way.
  
• Not wanting to miss out on the fun, Steve Downie -- yes, that Steve Downie -- decided to take a few unprovoked slashes to the back of Andy Greene's legs (video).
• Not satisfied with traveling the same road as former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson, Hatcher decided it was time to engage in a bit of head hunting on Saturday night against Toronto, targeting Alexander Steen for destruction. Fortunately for Steen, he kept his "head on a swivel" and ducked to avoid the uncoming Hatcher. Unfortunately, Hatcher's teammate Joffrey Lupul didn't get out of the way, and he suffered a concussion and spinal cord contusion that will keep him off the ice for the rest of the month (again, video here).
• And as I outlined on Saturday night, the evening was topped off when Downie sucker-punched Toronto's Jason Blake while the latter had his arms pinned behind his back (pictured above, and video). The NHL is investigating.

Continuing in the tradition of signing the easy, cheap guys first, GM Darcy Regier signed 3 players yesterday taking care of the Buffalo Sabres need for a backup goaltender, enforcer and depth forward. On top of that there was rumor flying around last night that the team had, as well, signed 6'6" defenseman Andy Sutton to a contract as well.

Veteran goaltender Jocelyn Thibault, who did a very solid job of backing up Marc-Andre Fleury last season in Pittsburgh should provide a similar presence and competence in backing up Ryan Miller. It's a one-year deal and no terms have been disclosed.

Enforcer and all-around locker-room good guy Andrew Peters, one of the players eligible to take the team to arbitration but declined and now we know why, re-upped with the team for another year. I'd be shocked if he got much of a raise over the $460,000 he made last season. If anthing that is surprising it's that the contract is for two years. I see this as a continuity move and morale move more than anything else. The Sabres will not have cap issues this season and should keep a full roster. Peters is well-liked in the room.

Lastly, for yesterday, the Sabres re-signed 28 year old Michael Ryan. A career minor-leaguer, bringing back Ryan (acquired back in 2003 for Stu Barnes and a 2nd round pick) is a value play. He possesses great speed and is an excellent penalty-killer but has no finish to his game at all and is small. He knows the system well and doesn't need to languish in Rochester anymore now that that pipeline has been restocked after the Gogulla and Gragnani signings.

As expected Derek Roy and Nathan Paetsch both filed for arbitration.

Ta,