Toronto Maple Leafs Oliver Ekman-Larsson gets fined by the NHL
The Toronto Maple Leafs came away winners against the Lightning on Monday night, but for Oliver Ekman-Larsson, he's now been given a huge fine by the league.
There was plenty to celebrate for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday, as the team chased goaltender Andrei Vasilevsky as they dominated the Tampa Bay Lightning, picking up a much needed victory to take them to 4-2-0 on the season. It wasn't all good news though, as off-season addition Oliver Ekman-Larsson now has a $5,000 fine to pay after this play with Jake Guentzel of the Lightning.
The fine is the maximum allowable under the NHL's current CBA, with the league fining him for the interference, rather than the booming contact he made with the Lightning star. At full speed, this looked like a great, game changing play from Ekman-Larsson, but upon further inspection, Guentzel clearly never touched the puck, and therefore the league have come down hard on the Maple Leafs veteran defenseman.
While the NHL and the NHL's Player Safety Department have taken on plenty of criticism in recent years, and rightfully so, it's hard to argue with them on this play, as OEL clearly never gave Guentzel the opportunity to get to the puck, and therefore a penalty and a fine were always coming. As for Ekman-Larsson, Maple Leafs fans will love seeing him throw his body around as it's not the first time this season that he's used his body to make a game-changing play, with the team getting everything they paid for this summer, as he used that physicality to great effect against a key divisional rival in Tampa Bay.
Thankfully this latest move for No. 95 didn't come back to haunt the team as they ran away with a one-sided victory, and while the $5,000 fine isn't ideal for the veteran blue liner, it's safe to say that he's happy to pay the toll to project his dominance over his opponents, so don't expect this to be the last time we see him throw a huge hit this season in order to make a difference.
