Canadiens wing Kostitsyn leaves game after brutal hit

Montreal Canadiens left wing Andrei Kostitsyn left Saturday's 4-1 victory against the Phoenix Coyotes after a fearsome hit from defenseman Kurt Sauer.

Sauer caught Kostitsyn with his head down in the offensive zone and hit the Belarussian along the boards.

Kostitsyn fell to the ice, then slowly got to his hands and knees.

A stretcher was brought onto the ice, but Kostitsyn - his left eye swelling - got to his feet with help from medical personnel and was taken to the locker room.

"(Kostitsyn) came over the blue line, he was starting to lay back and, I don't know, I just hit him," Sauer said. "I didn't see the replay, but it isn't good when a guy goes down like that. I don't think it was (a head shot). I don't think I came up high on him."

Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau said he didn't know if the hit was clean.

"I don't know if it was dirty, but I know (the league is) trying to erase blows to the head, and I think timing is part of the game and hitting's part of the game," Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau said.

"(Sauer) pushed himself forward to try and make a hit, and his arm was up."

No penalty was called, but Kostitsyn's brother Sergei Kostitsyn came out on the next shift and physically stepped up his game. He drew a roughing penalty after checking defenseman David Hale behind the Coyotes' net.

Later in the session, Tom Kostopoulos challenged Sauer to a fight.

The remainder of the second period was testy, with Montreal enforcer Georges Laraque being whistled for a two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct and a five-minute fighting penalty with Todd Fedoruk.

"The league punishes blows to the head, so you can't just go after a guy and jump on him - especially me," Laraque said. "I thought we responded well in a moderate way to show we didn't like it, but again, you have to be careful. You don't want to get five or 10 games (as a suspension). Then who won?"