Quinn Hughes Speaks Out For First Time After Being Ejected From Saturday's Game in Ottawa

The Vancouver Canucks were able to pull off a close win in their opener of a six-game road trip against the Ottawa Senators, but what was more impressive is that they were able to do it without Quinn Hughes for the majority of the game.

During the opening period of Saturday's contest, Canucks captain Quinn Hughes was handed his first-career game misconduct for boarding Ottawa Senators forward Josh Norris, his former college roommate at the University of Michigan.

Josh Norris went back to the Senators' locker room for a brief moment before returning to the bench and was able to continue playing.

Quinn Hughes avoided supplemental discipline from the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety, likely because they reviewed the incident, finding it wasn't nearly as bad as it initially seemed, along with the fact Josh Norris was able to return to the game.

Following Monday's practice in Boston, Quinn Hughes spoke to the media, where he was asked about being ejected from Saturday's game against the Senators.

Hughes told reporters that he was pretty surprised that the officials gave him a five-minute major and a game misconduct as he was only expecting a two-minute minor.

He went on to say that he met up with Josh Norris after the game, where the former teammates both apologized for the play, according to Sportsnet's Dan Murphy.

At the end of the day, the good news is that Quinn Hughes didn't receive any suspension or fine for the hit, while Josh Norris isn't hurt and was able to continue playing on Saturday night.

Hughes and the Canucks will now shift their focus to Tuesday's game against the Boston Bruins, their second contest of the road trip, with puck drop set for 4 pm PT on Sportsnet.