Two players fined for Sabres, Canadiens Game 3 incidents
To the surprise of absolutely nobody, the league has had to step in and provide some supplemental discipline for the second-round playoff series between the Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens.
On Monday, the NHL Department of Player Safetey announced two fines stemming from incidents that occured during Sunday’s Game 3, which the Canadiens won 6-2 to take a 2-1 series lead.
Firstly, Montreal defenseman Arber Xhekaj has been fined $3,385.42, the maximum allowable amount under the collective bargaining agreement (CBA), for roughing Buffalo forward Sam Carrick at the end of the game.
“Roughing” might be the technically correct term to classify Xhekaj’s actions, but it certainly doesn’t do them full justice. During a puck battle in the corner as the clock was winding down, Xhekaj came over and cross-checked Carrick from behind. After Carrick stood back up and turned around, Xhekaj did his best impression of Tyson Fury looking to score a knockout, hitting Carrick with a gloved left-right combo to the jaw and dropping him to the ice.
The Department of Player Safety also announced that Sabres forward Beck Malenstyn has been fined $3,515.63, again the maximum allowable amount under the CBA, for goaltender interference against Canadiens’ goalie Jakub Dobes during the second period of Game 3.
The incident occured when Malenstyn, charging to the front of the net while looking for a pass, skated right into the crease and jumped into Dobes without any noticeable attempt to stop or evade him. While an excuse could be made that Malenstyn was pushed from behind by Montreal forward Zack Bolduc, it’s clear the league believes that Malentstyn did not make the appropriate efforts to avoid the collision.
Sabres fans can be understandably upset by these decisions, as Xhekaj and Malenstyn were given approximately equivalent punishments, despite Xhekaj’s actions being far more blatantly intentional.
The two teams will drop the puck on Game 4 of their series on Tuesday in Montreal.