Former NHL forward Evgeny Artyukhin of SKA St. Petersburg has been banned for the three remaining KHL regular-season games for a brutal hit on an opponent, the league said Monday.
Artyukhin charged into Spartak Moscow defenseman Denis Bodrov with his knee, injuring his opponent, during a 4-2 defeat for his SKA St. Petersburg team on Sunday.
Artyukhin was banned twice in his four-year NHL career with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Anaheim Ducks and Atlanta Thrashers, and has a checkered KHL disciplinary record.
He played a leading role in a notorious mass brawl between the Russian and Finnish national teams in the Euro Hockey Tour last year.
The KHL said that earlier bans meant that he would receive a longer sentence for the hit on Bodrov.
“Taking into consideration earlier disciplinary sanctions, Artyukhin will be disqualified for one further match. As a result, the SKA forward will miss three matches,” the KHL said on its website.
Moscow-born Artyukhin will miss games against Metallurg Novokuznetsk, Amur Khabarovsk and Sibir Novosibirsk, but will return for the playoffs. He has contributed 16 goals and seven assists in 44 appearances for SKA this season.
SKA have a commanding lead at the top of the KHL’s West Conference and Bobrov Division, and are hoping to reach their first league final.
Artyukhin, who joined SKA in 2010, was a member of the Russia team that finished fourth at the 2011 World Championships.
