Rangers' Desjardins suspended for 2 preseason games

Sep 26, 2017 - 12:22 AM New York Rangers forward Andrew Desjardins was suspended by the NHL for two preseason games on Monday.

Desjardins was punished for an illegal check to the head of New Jersey Devils forward Miles Wood during Saturday's preseason game.

The 31-year-old Desjardins was assessed a match penalty for an illegal check to the head. The incident occurred eight minutes into the game.

Wood went through the concussion protocol before returning to the game. He termed the hit "dirty," per Newsday.

Desjardins, 31, who is on a tryout with New York, received support from Rangers coach Alain Vigneault after the game.

"Their guy has his head down and he was taking the puck to the net," Vigneault told Newsday. "I think Andrew was just playing the man, and his shoulder did hit the head and referees are told to call that. It's unfortunate. I just talked to Andrew about it, and obviously, it's not something he wanted to do, but the guy's taking the puck to the net."