Ducks right wing Evgeny Artyukhin has been suspended for three games without pay by the NHL as the result of a slew-footing incident Wednesday night against Dallas Stars defenseman Matt Niskanen, who was injured on the play. The incident occurred at 4:23 of the second period of Dallas’ 4-2 win. No penalty was assessed on the play.

Artyukhin, who was suspended for two games Jan. 19, 2009, is considered a repeat offender under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Accordingly, Artyukhin forfeits $34,756.11 in salary based on the number of games (82) in a season, rather than the number of days (193). The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

Artyukhin will miss Saturday’s game against Columbus, Oct. 26 against Toronto and Oct. 30 against Vancouver. He will be eligible to return Oct. 31 at Phoenix.

According to Rule 52.1 of the official NHL rulebook, slew-footing is the act of a player or goalkeeper using his leg or foot to knock or kick an opponent’s feet from under him, or pushes an opponent’s upper body backward with an arm or elbow, and at the same time with a forward motion of his leg, knocks or kicks the opponent’s feet from under him, causing him to fall violently to the ice.

Here is the video of the play. Because of the angle, and the proximity of the play to the boards, you can’t actually see the players’ feet make contact on the ice. It looks more like a “slew-kneeing,” which probably falls under the definition of a “leg or foot.”

Artyukhin’s previous suspension came as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning in a game against the Florida Panthers. Here’s the reaction to that incident — for which Artyukhin reportedly apologized personally to the NHL’s director of hockey operations, Mike Murphy — in the St. Petersburg Times.