Mikhail Grabovski given major penalty and game misconduct for boarding Henrik Sedin

With a few minutes to go in the first period of the Islanders game against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday, Mikhail Grabovski was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for boarding Vancouver's Henrik Sedin at the Canucks' bench.

As Sedin touched the puck, Grabovski closed in on him, forcing Sedin's shoulder into the boards. Sedin's head seems to clip the top of the bench as he falls.

i'm having a hell of a time trying to find a decent replay of this hit. pic.twitter.com/yn0UeQWKIM

— Stephanie (@myregularface) January 17, 2016

It was an ill-advised play by Grabovski, who has no history of such. He has all of 18 penalty minutes in 44 games this season and had eight last year in 51 games.

Tensions escalated quickly after that, with high sticks and nasty pushing continuing throughout the remainder of the first. Vancouver's Jared McCann was given a penalty for high-sticking John Tavares and Alex Biega and Ryan Strome were each given two for roughing. So Grabovski's major ended up being a 4-on-3 power play for the Islanders and then a one minute and change PP for Vancouver.

Sedin was not on the Canucks bench to start the second period. Let's hope the temperature doesn't get too hot for the rest of the game. It's been a free-flowing game with good scoring chances on both ends.

I don't see Grabovski getting a call from the Department of Player Safety regarding a suspension. But given the way the DOPS works, Grabovski might want to keep his phone handy anyway.