- Mike Matheson was fined $5,000, the max allowed under the CBA, for roughing Ridly Greig in Saturday’s preseason finale
- Greig cross-checked Matheson in the face before Matheson answered with a flurry of punches in front of the Habs net
- Read below for the video, Matheson’s fine history, and where Greig’s discipline record stands
Mike Matheson is paying for how he settled a score this weekend.
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety fined the Canadiens defenseman $5,000 on Sunday, the maximum allowed under the collective bargaining agreement, for roughing Ottawa Senators forward Ridly Greig. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
It happened at the 10:43 mark of the second period in Saturday’s preseason finale between Montreal and Ottawa. Greig cross-checked Matheson in the face in front of the Canadiens net. Matheson knocked him down and followed him to the ice with a couple more shots before officials pulled the two apart.
Watch the whole exchange here:
Both players drew roughing minors on the play. Greig has not faced any additional discipline from the league for his part in it.
This marks the third time Matheson has heard from the Department of Player Safety. He was fined for diving as a member of the Panthers back in 2018, then fined again during the 2020 playoffs for high-sticking then-Islanders forward Brock Nelson. He also sat two games in October 2018 for a hit on Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson.
Greig knows the drill too. The Senators forward was suspended two games in April for a sucker punch on Carolina’s Sean Walker during that playoff series, so Saturday’s tangle wasn’t his first time crossing a line the league takes seriously.
Matheson is in the first season of a five-year extension he signed last November, worth $6 million a year through 2030-31. Montreal opens the regular season looking like a legitimate Atlantic Division contender, and a $5,000 fine in a preseason finale won’t cost him a single game.
