 On February 12, 2011, Gillies was suspended nine games by the NHL for an incident which occurred in a February 11, 2011 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.During the third period of the game, Gillies elbowed Penguins' forward Eric Tangradi in the face, punched him several times while he was down on the ice, and proceeded to taunt him from the dressing room hallway.Tangradi suffered concussion like symptoms and remained out of the Penguins line-up indefinitely.