Ottawa Senators defenceman Mark Borowiecki picked up his second suspension in less than a week on Monday, landing himself a three-game ban for a hit to the head of Vegas Golden Knights forward Cody Eakin.

Looking back on the play, Borowiecki said he did not see a problem with his contact on Eakin.

“In my honest opinion, I thought the hit in Vegas was a good hard hockey hit and a good hard hockey play,” Borowiecki told The Ottawa Sun on Tuesday.

Borowiecki caught Eakin with his head down after the Golden Knight intercepted a pass intended for the Senators defenceman. Eakin left the game and did not return, while Borowiecki picked up a five-minute major and a game misconduct for charging. Borowiecki also argued that the referee did not initially call him for a penalty, but elected to give him the major after Jon Merrill dropped the gloves him with him following the hit. 

“I will say the same thing I said to (player safety head) George (Parros) on that call,” Borowiecki said. “My initial, gut reaction after that play, was that we were going on a two-minute power play. I thought (the Golden Knights) were getting two minutes for instigating (a fight). There was no call in real time by the referees.”

Golden Knights head coach Gerard Gallant said after the game he saw no intent to injure from Borowiecki and the defenceman isn't sure what he could have done differently. “That’s kind of the confusing part of it sometimes," Borowiecki said. "But, if you’re going to play on that line, you’re going to cross it sometimes and the consequences are what they are.”

He noted that Eakin's positioning, looking down at the puck, at the time of the hit also played a factor in the outcome.

“I want to preface this by saying I am by no means putting the onus on Cody Eakin at all,” Borowiecki explained. “He is not to fault for this, but our argument for this is, if his head was up, where would the principal point of impact be. I think it’s left (pectoral muscle).”

The 29-year-old was suspended last week for an elbow to the head of Boston Bruins rookie Urho Vaakanaienen in front of the Senators' net. He led the NHL last season with an average of 4.3 hits per game and is working at 3.7 hit per game clip this season. Borowiecki said Tuesday he has no plans to change his play on the ice. 

“The one against Boston was not intentional, but I need to make a better decision there,” he said. “I take a lot of pride in throwing a lot of body checks and the majority of them are pretty clean. I’m going to try and get back on track, but by no means am I going to change my game or the way that I play. I’m not out there looking to target guys or hurt guys. I’m just playing the game hard and sometimes you cross that line.”

Borowiecki is eligible to return on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, while Eakin was in the Golden Knights' lineup for Tuesday's contest against the Nashville Predators.