‘Yotes Notes: Zac Rinaldo suspended 6 games

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The NHL Department of Player Safety suspended Coyotes forward Zac Rinaldo six games on Wednesday for punching Colorado Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard in Colorado’s 6-2 win against the Coyotes at Gila River Arena on Saturday.

Rinaldo will miss games against Colorado (Wednesday), Toronto (Thursday), Anaheim (Sunday), Nashville (Jan. 4), the New York Rangers (Jan. 6) and Edmonton (Jan. 12). He is eligible to return to the lineup on Jan. 13 at San Jose.

Rinaldo received a match penalty in Saturday’s game, which triggers an automatic suspension. The league offered him an in-person hearing for a punch to an unsuspecting opponent, but he waived that right and conducted the interview by phone at 1 p.m. Arizona time on Wednesday.

The sequence of events began when Rinaldo delivered a hard and clean open-ice hit on Avalanche star Nate MacKinnon. Girard came to MacKinnon’s defense and bumped Rinaldo. Rinaldo responded by punching Girard in the face, setting off a pair of fights and 52 penalty minutes at 8:52 of the second period.

“It’s an unfortunate play, a confluence of different events,” Coyotes general manager John Chayka said. “Zac has a history of being suspended in the league, although it’s for different reasons, and obviously that was heavily weighed.

“He made a mistake so he gets punished.”

Rinaldo has been suspended five times since his rookie season of 2011-12 for a total of 25 games. He was also suspended for five AHL games in 2016. Rinaldo had to serve a five-game suspension at the start of the season for a suspension he earned in March of 2016 that he had not served because he was in the AHL.

“Zac is a guy that we’ve had a lot of discussions with about what we’re looking for and what we’re not looking for,” Chayka said. “To this point, he’s done an excellent job of being a model player on and off ice. There have been no issues on that front.”

The Coyotes recalled forward Lawson Crouse on Tuesday from the American Hockey League to fill Rinaldo’s roster spot and he was in the lineup against the Avalanche on Wednesday. Crouse played seven games for the Coyotes earlier this season before he was reassigned to Tucson on Oct. 25.

Coach Rick Tocchet was asked what he wants to see in Crouse’s game.

“I really wanted him to go down to Tucson and learn to hold onto pucks,” Tocchet told Dave Vest of ArizonaCoyotes.com. “When he was here, he was a little antsy with the puck. He was throwing pucks away.

“He’s a guy that can come in here and fill some energy and play a physical game. We need those types of players.”

MATTHEWS RETURNS

The Toronto Maple Leafs landed in Phoenix around noon on Wednesday and practiced at Gila River Arena a couple hours later. Leafs center and Arizona product Auston Matthews will play his second game at Gila River Arena on Thursday, but Matthews has been in the Valley since Sunday, leaving for the holiday break after the Maple Leafs played the New York Rangers on Saturday.

“I love coming back so I lucked out pretty well, last year and this year, being able to spend Christmas here at home,” said Matthews, who claimed he has not eaten out once, preferring his mom’s cooking. “It’s nice just to be around the family, kind of get away from hockey for a couple days, not think about it and kind of recharge the batteries.”

Matthews said he is feeling no ill effects from the concussion that sidelined him for six games (he returned to the lineup against the Rangers). Matthews said he would have a lot of family members in attendance at the game, in a suite.

INJURY UPDATES

— Defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson traveled with the team but Chayka said he is not ready to return to the lineup.

“The next step for Nik is to practice with the team,” Chayka said. “He has yet to do so.”

— Center Brad Richardson, who suffered an upper-body injury on Saturday against Colorado, did not travel with the team to Denver. Coach Rick Tocchet did not provide a timeline for his return but he did say the injury is “more than a day-to-day thing.”

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Maple Leafs at Coyotes
When: 7 p.m., Thursday
Where: Gila River Arena
TV: FOX Sports Arizona
Radio: 98.7 FM, Arizona’s Sports Station
Records: Coyotes — 8-25-5. Maple Leafs — 22-14-1.
Injury/suspension report: Coyotes — D Niklas Hjalmarsson (upper body) is day to day. F Brad Richardson (upper body) is week to week. F Zac Rinaldo is suspended. Maple Leafs — Nikita Soshnikov (lower body), Nikita Zaitsev (lower body)

Maple Leafs scouting report: Auston Matthews had a goal and an assist in his first game in two weeks to help Toronto end a four-game road losing streak with a 3-2 win against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. Matthews sat out six games with a concussion. … Matthews still leads the Leafs with 28 points (14 goals, 14 assists).

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