- Devils forward Evan Rodrigues fined $5,000, the maximum under the CBA
- The high-stick on Canucks center Marco Rossi drew only a double minor and no suspension
- Read below for how the play unfolded and what it cost Vancouver
The NHL Department of Player Safety fined Devils forward Evan Rodrigues $5,000 on Sunday for high-sticking Canucks center Marco Rossi. That is the most the CBA allows.
Rodrigues avoids a suspension, so he is not missing any games. The league announced the fine through NHL Public Relations, and the Player Safety account posted it too:
The incident came at 19:50 of the second period in Saturday night’s game in New Jersey. Rossi gave Rodrigues a shove during a faceoff, and Rodrigues answered by getting his stick up into Rossi’s neck area.
Officials called Rodrigues for a double minor for high-sticking. That handed Vancouver four minutes of power play time, and part of it carried over into the third period.
The call did not sit well with everybody watching. Canucks Army’s game recap described the stick work as a spear to the neck and pointed out the penalty was lowered to a double minor. The league treated it seriously enough to hand down the biggest fine it can.
The extra power play did Vancouver little good. The Canucks struggled to get set and enter the zone cleanly, and Brock Boeser went to the box six seconds into the second half of the double minor, which turned the power play into 4-on-4.
New Jersey won 4-1. Nico Hischier scored twice for his 200th career goal, and the Devils went 3-for-4 on the power play. Vancouver fell to 2-4-0 and is 0-2-0 to start a six-game road trip.
Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson took the same $5,000 maximum in September for roughing Ridly Greig in September.
All the money from the fine goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
