Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said he takes full responsibility for the cross checks that led to his four-game suspension, he won't appeal, and he said he apologized to Calgary's Matthew Tkachuk on the next shift.
"It's unfortunate, it's frustrating and disappointing, but at the end of the day I'm responsible for what I do out there, and that stuff shouldn't happen on the ice and I know it," he said Tuesday, one day after a phone hearing with NHL Player Safety director George Parros.
Landeskog was given a minor penalty in the first period for cross-checking Tkachuk behind the Avalanche net in the first period of a 3-2 loss.
"It caught him in a bad spot and it's unfortunate," he said. "I'm glad he didn't get hurt and the suspension is what it is, and I respect George's opinion and his decision."
Landeskog, the Avalanche's top line left wing and third-leading scorer with 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) will miss the rest of the homestand starting with Wednesday against Winnipeg. He will return Dec. 7 against Tampa Bay, the first game of a four-game road trip.
This is Landeskog's third suspension. He was given a two-game suspension in November 2015 for an illegal check to the head of Boston's Brad Marchand, and a three-game suspension in March 2016 for cross-checking Anaheim's Simon Despres in the head.
"I'm disappointed in myself," he said. "A couple years ago I had a couple suspensions and after that I made sure that I was smart about what I'm doing out there, smart about the decisions I make out there and I have thought about it. I know things happen fast on the ice, and it's an expensive mistake.
"It's disappointing because we've done a good job of putting ourselves in a good position and I feel that as a line and as a team we've been playing pretty good, but I know the guys are going to do a good job of making a stand on the homestand."
Sven Andrighetto will replace Landeskog on the line with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. Andrighetto, who has been on the fourth line in recent games, has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in 21 games but has gone four games without a point.
"It's a real good opportunity for him," coach Jared Bednar said. "He's going to jump in on the top line for tomorrow night and he's getting back on the power play. We should have a hungry player there.
"Losing Landy hurts, he's our top minute guy up front. He plays both special teams and a lot of 5-on-5 minutes, so we have to have some other guys step up and pick up some of the slack."
Landeskog said his cross-check was a "dirty play" and he plays a "physical" game, but that he never tries to hurt anyone.
"At the end of the day, people base their opinions on what you do and how you conduct yourself," he said. "Obviously an incident like this is something that -- I'm sure people are going to have their opinions on it, as they should.
"For me, I'm still the same Gabe, I'm still going to conduct myself the same way. I'm just going to make sure I keep my stick down and play smart. I pride myself in playing the right way and competing on the ice. This is just unfortunate that it happened. I'm going to learn from it and move on."
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Defenseman Anton Lindholm was activated from injured reserve and will return to the lineup after missing nine games with a broken jaw. He'll be paired with Tyson Barrie.
The Avalanche later announced that Chris Bigras and Andrei Mironov have been assigned to San Antonio of the AHL, and that Duncan Siemens was recalled. Siemens had one goal, two assists, 29 penalty minutes and was minus-4 in 20 games with the Rampage.
The lineup:
FORWARDS Sven Andrighetto -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen Tyson Jost -- Alexander Kerfoot -- J.T. Compher Matt Nieto -- Carl Soderberg -- Blake Comeau Gabriel Bourque -- Dominic Toninato -- Nail Yakupov
DEFENSE Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson Anton Lindholm -- Tyson Barrie Nikita Zadorov -- Mark Barberio
GOALIES Semyon Varlamov Jonathan Bernier