Clarke MacArthur Ejected for Boarding Liam Reddox

Yet another scary incident in the NHL on Wednesday night as Liam Reddox of the Edmonton Oilers went head first into the side boards after fighting for a loose puck with Clarke MacArthur of the Buffalo Sabres.

MacArthur was issued a five-minute major and a game-misconduct for boarding, and when you combine that with the fact the player on the receiving end of the hit was injured, you can guarantee that this will end up on the desk of NHL discipline czar Colin Campbell for review.

Video after the jump.

MacArthur appeared to be genuinely concerned following the play, and it's hard to imagine that he was intentionally trying to send Reddox into the boards. It appeared to be a battle for a loose puck that had an unfortunate, scary result.

That seems to be the stance David Oleksy at Sabres blog Die By The Blade is taking, as he didn't even see the need for a penalty:

At some point we have to start putting some blame on the victim and not always on the player that delivered the hit. I remember watching hockey when players prepared themselves for getting hit into the boards, nowadays they put themselves in a vulnerable position and complain that a penalty should be called on the hitter. It was definitely the wrong call but luckily it didn't affect the outcome of the game. It would have been a shame to see the game decided on a bad call, that was only made because the player did not get up.

Potential punishment for MacArthur, as always, is anybody's guess in the NHL's seemingly random world of discipline.

Buffalo ended up winning the game, 3-1, thanks to goals from Drew Stafford, Steve Montador and Jochen Hecht, as well as 28 saves from Ryan Miller.