Another suspension coming before the season even gets started

Fans are patiently waiting for the real action to start in the National Hockey League as we are less than a week away from the start of the regular calendar, however, we can't say there hasn't been loads of action during exhibition games. And it seems that the Department of Player Safety is pretty busy and could hand in its second suspension of the preseason.

Already. 

St. Louis Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo is expected to have a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety on Thursday for elbowing Washington Capitals blue liner Michal Kempny during a preseason game that took place on Tuesday. 

The veteran defender could face a suspension, seeing that he has been fined twice in the past by the league. Last year in October, he was fined $3,091.40 for a cross-check delivered to New York Islanders' Brock Nelson, the amount is the maximum allowed by the CBA.

The Capitals went on to crush the Blues 4-0 on Tuesday night. The 29-year-old player waiting for his fate scored four goals and added nine assists over 72 games with the Blues in 2017-18, his fourth year with the organization. 

As for Kempny, he tallied two goals and one assist over 22 games with the Caps last season. 

Of course, Caps' Tom Wilson paid Bortuzzo a visit, to stand up for his teammate: 

The first suspension of the year was given to the new member of the Montreal Canadiens Max Domi last week. 

During last Wednesday's preseason meeting between the Florida Panthers and Habs, Domi, who was playing his first game with the club, was ejected for sucker-punching Aaron Ekblad. With the Canadiens losing 2-1 at the start of the third period, he thought it'd be a good idea to drop the gloves and spice things up. He tugged on Ekblad's shirt, asking him to fight, which Ekblad had no interest into. Nonetheless, Domi punched him in the face twice, but still Ekblad didn't respond. That's when Domi dropped his right glove and sucker punched him right on the nose. The bloodied Ekblad dropped to the ice. Domi was given a minor, major and match penalty on the play. 

The League decided that the young forward would sit out the rest of the preseason for the incident, suspending him for five exhibition games. 

We now have to wait and see if Bortuzzo will get the second suspension of the year, before the season even gets started...