PITTSBURGH — Patrick Marleau said he does not expect to receive supplemental discipline from the NHL for his illegal check to the head of Penguins forward Bryan Rust.

“I don’t think so,” Marleau said of a possible suspension. “I just tried to keep everything down. I didn’t want to get too high on him. I kept my shoulder in and elbow in and everything in.”

Whether or not the NHL’s Department of Player Safety sees the sequence the same way remains to be seen.

Marleau, 36, did not appear to raise his elbow. However, video replays do suggest that Marleau lined up the defenceless Rust - who had his head down - and deliberately contacted Rust’s head with his elbow.

“I just kind of let him skate into me,” Marleau said.

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The fact that Rust left Game 1 with 10:49 remaining will not help Marleau’s case to play in Game 2, as the NHL does take injury into account. Marleau was given a two-minute minor for illegal check to the head on the play.

Rust was examined by a Penguins doctor, briefly returned to the game for one shift, then left the bench for the remainder of the game.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan labeled Rust as “day-to-day” with an “upper-body injury.” Rust opened the scoring for Pittsburgh with his fourth goal in three games, including both goals in the Penguins’ 2-1 win over Tampa Bay in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final.

“It is a blindside hit to the head,” Sullivan said. “He gets a penalty, I’m sure the league will look at it.”

The NHL’s Department of Player Safety, including senior vice-president Stephane Quintal, vice-president Damian Echevarrieta and director Patrick Burke, were in attendance at Consol Energy Center for Game 1.

Marleau does not have a suspension history. With 1,411 regular season games under his belt, Marleau vanquished the longest active streak for games played without appearing in a Stanley Cup final on Monday night.

The last suspension handed down during the Stanley Cup came in 2011 when Vancouver’s Aaron Rome was dinged four games for drilling Boston’s Nathan Horton.

Contact Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @frank_seravalli