- NHL Department of Player Safety fined Mikko Rantanen $5,000, the most allowed under the CBA
- The cross-check on Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov came at 4:15 of the third period in Thursday’s Game 6
- Read below for the play, the in-game call, and where the fine money lands
Mikko Rantanen got hit with the biggest fine the league can hand out.
On Friday, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced the Stars forward has been fined $5,000, the most the league can issue under the CBA, for cross-checking Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov during Thursday’s Game 6 of their First Round series in Minnesota.
Here’s a look at how Game 6 played out, with the Wild closing out their first playoff series win since 2015:
It happened at 4:15 of the third period. Officials handed Rantanen a minor for roughing on the play, which is a quirky split given Player Safety landed on cross-checking when reviewing it after the fact.
Minnesota took the First Round series 4-2 and is now headed to the Western Conference Second Round against the Colorado Avalanche. That ended Dallas’s run earlier than anyone in the room wanted after a strong regular season and a deep playoff push the year before.
Money from the fine heads to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund, where every league fine ends up under the CBA.
Rantanen also joins teammate Jamie Benn in the books for cross-check fines this series. Benn was docked $2,604.17 earlier in the round for a cross-check on Wild forward Ryan Hartman.
Two Stars forwards, two cross-check fines, one early playoff exit. Not the look Dallas wanted from a series that ended in six games.
The full ruling from the league is posted here.
