NEWARK, N.J. -- Taylor Hall neither gloated nor piled on when asked about the ten-game suspension handed Senators' forward Alex Burrows. But he was happy about it.
The Devils' leading scorer was on the receiving end of an attack which included repeated knees to the back of his head from Burrows in a game Tuesday night in Ottawa, but chose the high road when publicly commenting on the stiff penalty assessed by the NHL's Department of Player Safety.
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"You always want to see the league stand up for its players," Hall told reporters following Thursday's morning skate at the Prudential Center.
"It's a lot of games, but the biggest thing is that isn't really a hockey play. It's not something you want to see in the game. I don't know his reasoning or anything like that. I think the reason (the suspension) is so high is that they just want to exterminate it, they don't want to see that again."
The play originated in the Devils' offensive zone midway through the second period of a game the Sens ultimately won 5-3. Hall buried Burrows with a hard, clean hit and moments later after a whistle, the Senators forward grabbed Hall, threw punches, wrestled him to the ice and then repeatedly drove his knee into the back of Hall's helmeted head.
"He has a past," Hall noted of Burrows, who was previously suspended once and fined five times over the course of his 13-year NHL career.
Devils coach John Hynes was not as muted as Hall when asked about the ban.
"It was certainly a warranted suspension and well-deserved," Hynes stated emphatically. "There's no need for that in the game. It's nice to see that the league took swift action and the right action."
Alex Burrows knees Taylor Hall repeatedly in the back of the head during a scrum mid-game.
— NHL Daily 365 (@NHLDaily365) February 7, 2018
Suspension incoming? pic.twitter.com/O7ZCERX4Az
Hall was most sympathetic to George Parros, the former NHL enforcer who now heads up the Department of Player Safety.
"It's a balance," explained Hall, who has 19 goals and 52 points this season. "I was just on the other side of it a couple weeks ago getting fined. I don't envy that job where Parros decides guys' futures like that.
"But at the end of the day, we're just trying to make it a safer game."