The NHL didn’t wait long to start handing out supplemental discipline after the penalty-filled affair between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers on Saturday night. After both teams racked up 322 penalty minutes in a game that featured multiple fights and several ugly hits along the boards, it’s no surprise that the league felt the need to hand out some additional fines and possible suspensions.
Gage Goncalves signed a new contract on July 1, boosting his yearly cap hit to $1.2 million. That also means that the maximum amount he can be fined by the league also went up, and he’ll be cutting a check for $3,125.00 for his cross-check on Evan Rodrigues.
Roman Schmidt has yet to participate in an official NHL regular season game, but he has picked up his first NHL fine as he has $2,098.52 coming out of his next paycheck for his hit on Carter Verhaeghe in the first period.
Two more Lightning players have yet to have their punishments decided. Scott Sabourin and J.J. Moser are awaiting phone calls with the league for the hits on Aaron Ekblad and Jesper Boqvist in last night’s game. Chances are that both will be missing some game time.
There is absolutely no doubt that Sabourin should get multiple games for his actions. While his initial hit was okay, he followed that up with a cross-check to Ekblad’s face and then started punching the defenseless Panther. With Sabourin expected to spend most of the season in the AHL, the effect on the Lightning should be minimal.
Moser, who’s hit on Boqvist in the first period earned a game misconduct, may get off with just a single game. An early season suspension for him would likely lead to Declan Carlile or Max Crozier getting an unexpected start in the season opener.
Neither Moser or Sabourin have relevant discipline history with the NHL.
There were no additional sanctions for the Florida Panthers.
