COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson seemed relatively pleased with his one-game suspension by the NHL following Sunday’s incidents involving Florida Panthers forward Nick Cousins.
Mostly, though, he was relieved to emerge from a dangerous hit with a few scraps on his face and feeling like he’d been in a car wreck.
Gudbranson was going back on a puck in the defensive zone early in the third period of Sunday’s 5-2 loss to the Panthers when Cousins lowered his shoulder into Gudbranson’s back, sending the veteran defenseman face-first into the end boards.
His wife, Sarah, and their two children were watching the game from the lower bowl.
“That’s a bad hit,” Gudbranson said. “If that hit takes place three feet before that, I end up going down and bending my neck. That’s when you get a compression fracture, and who knows how the rest of your life is?
“My kids were 85 feet away from that hit. It’s a terrible hit. I was walking around (later that night), pacing in the hallways at home, trying to calm down and just happy that my legs still worked.”
Gudbranson will sit out Thursday’s game in Toronto — and his wallet is $20,833.33 lighter — because he made sure that wasn’t the end of it with Cousins, who received a minor penalty…
