Anton Volchenkov Suspended 3 Games

February 9 2011 Last updated at 12:26 PM ET

The NHL had a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday morning with New Jersey's Anton Volchenkov following his elbow to the head of Carolina's Zach Boychuk on Tuesday night. The hit occurred midway through the second period of the Devils 3-2 overtime win, and he was issued a two-minute minor for elbowing on the play. On Wednesday, he was suspended by the league for three games according to his agent via Twitter.

Volchenkov joined the Devils as an unrestricted free agent this summer, signing a six-year contract worth over $4.2 million per season after spending the first seven years of his career with the Ottawa Senators.

Here's a look at the hit that resulted in the three-game banishment...

A fearless shot-blocker and one of the best "stay-at-home" shutdown defensemen in the league, Volchenkov has zero goals and three assists in 39 games this season, while averaging just over 18 minutes of ice-time per night.

The Devils entered the season with high expectations due to the additions of Volchenkov and Ilya Kovalchuk, as well as a strong returning core that was anchored by players like Travis Zajac and Zach Parise. The team, however, was awful in the first half of the season due to injuries (such as a season-ending injury to Parise) and players performing well below expectation.

After spending much of the season at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, and after going through a coaching change that saw the return of Jacques Lemaire, the Devils have finally started to play the type of hockey most expected them to play before the season began.

Following Tuesday's win against the Hurricanes the Devils have now won 11 of their past 13 games and are starting to slowly climb the standings. There is, however, plenty of work to be done as they're still 14 points out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the east.

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