BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Turns out the NHL has a bigger bite than Ottawa's Jarkko Ruutu.
And that was fine with Andrew Peters on Wednesday evening after the Buffalo Sabres enforcer learned the league had suspended Senators' Ruutu two games without pay for biting Peters' gloved hand in a game on Tuesday night.
"Obviously, I'm happy about it and glad the NHL took notice," Peters said, still wearing a bandage around his bitten right thumb while attending a roast for his coach Lindy Ruff. "That's all I could ask for. It's a good result at the end of the day. It's a fair penalty."
To Peters, taking a punch in a hockey game is one thing, but being bitten during a skirmish breaks what's known as the tough-guy code in the NHL.
"It goes too far for any player. It doesn't matter who you are, it's not part of hockey," he said. "I just hope kids don't think that's acceptable. It's not acceptable at any level."
Ruutu was not immediately available for comment as the Senators were preparing for their game at Boston on Thursday. He will lose $37,707 in pay.
Aside from missing the game against the Bruins, he'll also miss a home game against the New York Rangers on Saturday. Ruutu is eligible to return Jan. 13 when the Senators host Carolina.
The NHL acted swiftly after what happened in the first period of Buffalo's 4-2 home win. Peters started the skirmish by shoving the palm of his glove into Ruutu's face and pushing him into the boards at the Senators' bench.
Ruutu responded by chomping down on Peters' glove, catching his teeth on the player's thumb, which is not padded. The force of Ruutu's bite broke the skin and drew blood on the Peters' right thumb. As Peters pulled away in pain, his glove was ripped off by Ruutu's bite.
Peters was penalized for sparking the skirmish. Ruutu was not penalized.
Following the game, Ruutu denied he bit Peters despite conclusive replays showing he had, and the skirmish becoming an instant YouTube hit and was shown on numerous international sports broadcasts.
Peters was still taken aback by what happened.
"It's not really the thumb that's the issue, it's the incident that took place," Peters said before the suspension was announced. "It's weird to even think that that goes on in hockey. Even in my role, I would never think of doing something like that."
