The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced that Toronto Maple Leafs’ Max Domi has been fined $5,000 for a late hit on Florida Panthers centre Aleksander Barkov.
That’s the maximum fine the NHL can hand a player.
The hit occurred in the dying seconds of Game 4 in Florida, when the Panthers were leading 2-0. Domi was penalized for boarding on the play, and the hit resulted in a scrum, with Bobby McMann, Brad Marchand and Aaron Ekblad all receiving misconducts.
Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said post-game that he expected the league to look at Domi’s hit on Barkov. Sam Bennett, who didn’t speak to reporters following a Game 2 incident involving goalie Anthony Stolarz, said after the fact that he didn’t like the Domi hit.
“Obviously, he was trying to take a run at [Barkov] at the end there. The boys did a good job there, jumping in and sticking up for Barky,” Bennett said. “I mean, it’s a physical series, so I expect more of that.”
Bennett scored in Florida’s 2-0 win on Sunday. Winger Carter Verhaeghe had the other Panthers’ goal.
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube commented on the Domi boarding penalty, saying he felt that Mitch Marner was targeted by Panthers defenceman Dmitri Kulikov, who appeared to get Marner in the back of the head with an elbow. Kulikov was not penalized on the play.
“To me, [that hit] was 10 times worse,” Berube said.
The Panthers evened the series at 2-2 and will return to Toronto for Game 5 on Wednesday.
