Rangers' Carcillo appealing 10-game suspension

NEW YORK -- New York Rangers forward Daniel Carcillo has requested that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman review his automatic 10-game suspension for violating Rule 40.3 (physical abuse of officials - category 2), the National Hockey League Players' Association announced Saturday.

Carcillo was involved in a physical altercation with linesman Scott Driscoll at 5:51 of the first period of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Montreal Canadiens. He was assessed a game misconduct for physical abuse of officials.

Carcillo's suspension was announced on Friday. He had 72 hours to request a review, according to Rule 40.5 (automatic suspension -- process). He will have an in-person appeal with Commissioner Bettman, but no date and time had been set by the time the NHLPA announced the appeal shortly after 5 p.m. ET on Saturday.

The NHL Rulebook states that the hearing "will be conducted by the Commissioner on an expedited basis, and best efforts will be used to provide a hearing before the second game missed by the player due to the automatic suspension imposed under this rule."

Carcillo will miss his first game Sunday when the Rangers host Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Canadiens at Madison Square Garden (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS).

Game 5 is Tuesday at Bell Centre in Montreal.