Penguins forward Sestito suspended 4 games for hit on Enstrom

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This article was published 09/03/2017 (3113 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety has announced Pittsburgh Penguins forward Tom Sestito has been suspended for four games without pay for his illegal check from behind on defenceman Toby Enstrom in Wednesday’s 7-4 win over the Winnipeg Jets. The suspension will cost Sestito US$12,778

Sestito, who was called up by the Penguins just hours before puck drop, was ejected from the game and issued a five-minute major for the check, as well as a 10-minute misconduct.

The play happened at the 13:10 mark of the first period, with Sestito driving Enstrom, who had just retrieved the puck deep in the Jets end, face-first into the boards. Sestito had already fought Jets enforcer Chris Thorburn earlier in the game, giving him 20 minutes of penalties — compared to one minute, two seconds of ice time — before he was forced to leave the match.

Enstrom headed to the dressing room after the check and didn’t return, meaning the Jets had to play with five defenceman for the better part of the game. Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice looked visibly upset afterwards, later hinting that Enstrom could be gone for some time.

“Toby is at the hospital right now getting checked for facial fractures,” Maurice said in his post-game press conference.

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The Jets had the day off Thursday, so an update likely won’t come until they return to the ice for practice today. Winnipeg is already pretty thin on the blue line with Tyler Myers still out with a groin injury. It’s likely that if Enstrom can’t go, veteran Mark Stuart will be in the lineup.

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

Every piece of reporting Jeff produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.