- NHL Department of Player Safety fined Josh Manson the maximum $5,000 allowed under the CBA
- The Avalanche defenseman butt-ended Michael McCarron in the first period of Monday’s Game 4
- Read below for the announcement, video of the play, and Manson’s brutally honest response
Josh Manson got hit with the wallet on Tuesday.
NHL Department of Player Safety fined the Avalanche defenseman $5,000, the maximum allowed under the collective bargaining agreement, for butt-ending Wild forward Michael McCarron in the first period of Monday’s Game 4 in St. Paul:
Officials caught the play at 7:02 of the first and reviewed it for a possible five-minute major before settling on a double minor under NHL Rule 58.5 for attempting to butt-end.
Watch how it went down:
McCarron didn’t bury his reaction. During his ESPN intermission interview with P.K. Subban, the Wild forward called Manson “a dirty player” and said he was “happy he’s still in the game” in Game 4.
Manson got his turn after Colorado’s 5-2 win. Asked about the incident in his post-game scrum, the veteran defender didn’t bother dressing the answer up.
“My intention wasn’t to butt-end him,” Manson said. “Did I want to punch him in the head? I did want to punch him in the head.”
Catch Manson’s full scrum from inside the Avalanche room:
It’s a loud return for Manson, who just got back in the lineup for Game 4 after missing the first three games of the round with an injury. Minnesota also turned the four-minute power play into a Danila Yurov goal that gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at intermission before the Avalanche took over.
Colorado now leads the series 3-1 with a chance to close it out at home in Game 5 on Wednesday. McCarron and Manson will share the same sheet again. Only now there’s a five-grand fine slip sitting between them.
