Any disappointment Mark Stone felt in missing a game against his hometown team was shared by his general manager, who is still bothered by the fact the second-year winger was suspended for a "very accidental" hit to the head of Detroit's Landon Ferraro.

Speaking on TSN1290 in Winnipeg before Thursday's game against the Jets, Bryan Murray said his attempt to reason with Stephane Quintal -- the Senior VP of Player Safety for the NHL -- fell on deaf ears.

"I talked to Quintal about it for a long time," Murray said of the controversial incident at the Joe Louis Arena last Friday. "It's very frustrating to see that (Stone) got two games. First time offender, never had an issue ever in his career. I suggested if you have to fine him to give him a warning ... but they didn't listen to me."

Murray told talk show host Gary Lawless that Stone, a Winnipeg native, has become one of the top three Senators forwards who can be a star in the NHL because he's so smart and good with the puck.

"Mark Stone is one of the least penalized players in the league," added Murray. "He's a poke checker, he's a puck stealer, but he doesn't finish his checks very often. I guess now I can't tell him to go hit more.

"On that play he was trying to steal the puck. He kind of got directed into Ferraro by Luke Glendening, and it ended up he's 6-foot-2 versus a player who is 5-foot-10, 5-foot-11. He made contact, he did hit the head, but it was very accidental."

Confusing to Murray is that Jets defenceman Dustin Byfuglien, who has been suspended before and as received multiple warnings, escaped with no supplementary discipline for a high hit on Montreal's Brendan Gallagher Sunday.

"I was led to believe Byfuglien was going to get a suspension too, and he didn't," said Murray. "So that's the disappointing part for me.

"I say to people all the time, I don't give a darn if another player on another team gets suspended or not. That's the least of my worries. I'm worried about my own players. I certainly worry about a player who plays the way Mark Stone did. Yeah I was frustrated. And I am disappointed for Mark as well."

-- Don Brennan