than a minute later when he stickhandled his way through the B

Jared Cowen may have been handed a two-game suspension by the NHL on Wednesday, but the Senators defenceman is not planning on changing his style of game as a result. Cowen will miss the next two contests because of his bodycheck on Zemgus Girgensons in the third period of Tuesdays game in Buffalo, in which he made primary contact with the head of the Sabres forward. Speaking to a small group of reporters on Thursday morning, Cowen said he wont change anything if that situation arises again in the future. "Ill make that same hit over and over again. Just because I had a hearing or a suspension isnt going to change it," Cowen said. "It is harder to hit small guys when youre taller. You have to get down to come through instead of just coming through because you have to change your levels. Its a little bit harder, but at the same time, Im not going to change anything." The 22-year-old defenseman insists that he was not targeting Girgensons head on the play and that if he stops playing with that physical edge, he wont be as effective on the ice. "No, I wouldnt do anything differently. If I dont make that hit, I dont play and I dont play well," Cowen added. "Maybe I move a little bit to the left an inch or two and thats the difference. Thats all that it was." "I made a lot of hits in this league before and its the first time its ever been under question. One in a thousand hits is going to be bad or whatever you want to call it. I was making the intention to make a full body contact check and I guess I got a piece of his head." Cowen was under some scrutiny a couple of weeks ago for an errant elbow that caught the head of Red Wings star Pavel Datsyuk, who was forced to miss several games with a concussion. The Sens defenseman says the league never mentioned his past incident with Datsyuk when doling out this two-game suspension. "It was never brought up that this was in relation to that one or that Im on some sort of list now. I think theyre not related at all," Cowen explained. "The Datsyuk one was totally reactional and accidental. This one was more of a missed hit or whatever you want to call it. I hope they werent considering the Datsyuk thing at all because that wouldnt make sense." During his phone hearing with the NHL department of player safety, Cowen argued that the play was not called a penalty on the ice and that Girgensons was not even injured as a result of the hit. In fact, the young Sabres forward immediately got up from the ice and charged towards Cowen. "He didnt say anything, but obviously actions speak louder than words," Cowen said when asked about Girgensons immediate response. "So obviously he was okay, too because he came after me and he wanted to do something. But I guess he was just faking it." The timing of the suspension couldnt have been worse for Cowen, who seemed to finally find his groove in the past two or three games. The young defenceman has been plagued by an inconsistent start to the season and appeared to be turning a corner in the past week. "Playing better and feeling better physically and just getting more into the rhythm, but this shouldnt stop that at all. Its one of those things I cant control. It shouldnt hinder me when I get back out there. Just stay skating and stay in good shape." Ben Wallace Jersey . Viewers in the Canadiens region can watch the game on TSN Habs at 7:30pm et/8:30pm at. Derrick Rose Pistons Jersey . His head snapped back from the impact and hit the floor. The All-Star power forward was all right afterward, a relief for the Minnesota Timberwolves. https://www.pistonsrookiesshop.com/Sekou-Doumbouya-City-Edition-Jersey/ .com) - It appears both the Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls will reach the playoffs, but the two squads are coming off losing efforts. Joe Smith Jersey . After just two league games in June, Toronto (6-4-1) will go on to play seven in July plus a friendly against Tottenham. Five of those contests are against Eastern Conference opposition, meaning valuable points in the playoff race are on the line. Christian Wood Jersey . Its the games against the leagues struggling franchises that have proved to be an issue.BUFFALO, N.Y. - Columbus Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards wanted a fast start this time, and his team delivered.Everyones been talking about us getting off to slow starts, Richards said. Thats one thing were trying to guard against. We want to get off on the right foot here.Columbus started 2-5 and 2-5-1 the past two seasons, but showed no signs of rust as it dominated the Buffalo Sabres in a comprehensive 3-1 win to open the season Thursday night.We didnt have any passengers tonight, Richards said. It was a total team effort.Cam Atkinson scored the tiebreaking goal on a third-period power play, and Artem Anisimov and Jack Skille also scored for the Blue Jackets, who went to the playoffs as an Eastern Conference wild card last season.You get all the kinks out in the preseason and thats where all the sloppy hockey comes, Atkinson said. You never know what to expect with the first game, especially when both sides have a lot of adrenaline.Zemgus Girgensons scored for Buffalo, and Jhonas Enroth made 37 saves.Columbus got 21 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky. Atkinson snapped a 1-all tie with 7:15 remaining, working the puck back and forth with Ryan Johansen before beating Enroth.Johansen just ended a contentious and public training camp holdout by signing a three-year contract extension Monday, and played well despite the layoff.Im sure a lot of people and fans didnt know what to expect from him tonight and it was a typical Johansen that we all love, Atkinson said. He created a lot of space for me and (Nick Foligno) and we got a lot of scoring chances.Sabres owner Terry Pegula was in the building one day after being unanimously approved as the new owner of the NFLs Buffalo Bills.The Sabres had the worst record in the NHL by 14 points last season and didnt give the fans much offensive excitement.Head coach Ted Nolan wasnt happy.I didnt like our effort tonight, Nolan said. I think it was OK at best. I dont know what it was. I think guys really wanted to do it.Buffalos start was promising, but Bobrovsky stood firm. He made a strong right blocker save on Andre Benoit early in the first period and was forced to make a point-blank save on Chris Stewart moments later as the Sabres reeled off four straight shots.For his part, Enroth made a pair of in-close saves during the Blue Jackets first power play and benefited from a shot that hit the post.ddddddddddddBuffalos second overall draft pick, Sam Reinhart, was hit hard near the midway point of the first by Blue Jackets right wing Jared Boll, who soon found himself face-to-face with Mike Weber. Both took roughing penalties.Youre told what its like, but until you get that game experience you dont understand, Reinhart said of his first NHL game. Its certainly a little bit different from the preseason. I think I got better as the game went on and I felt my confidence get higher as the game passed.Scott Hartnell redirected a shot off the crossbar late in the first, and Enroth stopped Mark Letestu on a 1-on-1 before the period expired.Skille scored first at 13:21 of the second period. Skating down the right side, he took a snap shot that beat Enroth high, popping the lid off the goalies water bottle and sending liquid flying through the air behind the net.The goal was a relief for Skille, who left Columbus for the New York Islanders in the off-season but was claimed off waivers by the Blue Jackets on Sunday.Its good to be back in this room, back on this team, he said. Its unfortunate what happened with the Islanders. Id like to thank them for the opportunity, but Im glad to be back home and with this group.Girgensons countered just more than a minute later when he stickhandled his way through the Blue Jackets defence before flipping a puck past Bobrovsky.The Sabres earned their first power play when Fedor Tyutin took a hooking penalty at 9:09 of the third. That was interrupted by a hooking call to Brian Gionta, and Atkinson made the most of Columbus fourth power play by manoeuvring around Benoit and beating Enroth at 12:45.When they tied it up there I felt they had a little momentum, Johansen said. But we did a good job of weathering them and we just kept plugging away on our side and started taking over the game again.Anisimov capped the scoring on a soft wrist shot with just more than 2 minutes to play.NOTES: Only six current Sabres were on the opening-day roster two years ago. ... Blue Jackets left wing Nick Foligno was born in Buffalo and is the older brother of Sabres left wing Marcus Foligno ... The game was the first as Sabres captain for Gionta, a Rochester native. ' ' '