Nikita Zadorov walked away without a penalty last night, and the Bruins could still hear from the league about it.
The play came against Oliver Bjorkstrand in Boston, in the Rangers' first game of the season.
The early clip was labeled an elbow, but that's not quite what happened. The Ranger took the butt end of Zadorov's stick, with the glove right behind it, up high.
The officials let it go. No whistle, no arm up, nothing on the scoresheet.
Bjorkstrand didn't take it nearly as quietly. He was clearly unhappy with the contact, and it's hard to blame him.
In the clip, the butt end and the glove ride up into the Ranger's face, and his reaction afterward says plenty about how he took it.
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Player Safety could fine Nikita Zadorov $5,000 for the Bjorkstrand play
From the Boston side, this looks like a big body finishing a battle with his stick up high. Nothing about it screams a play built to injure, and intent matters when the league reviews it.
From the New York side, intent doesn't change where that stick ended up. A player took a butt end and a glove to the face, and nobody sat for two minutes.
Both camps should agree on one thing. That should've been two for roughing, at minimum.
Supplemental discipline is the next question. Player Safety can suspend on a play like this, and nobody should rule it out completely.
The likelier outcome is a fine. A $5,000 hit to the wallet fits high contact without clear intent, and it keeps Zadorov in the Boston lineup.
A fine here works like a parking ticket for a car left in the fire lane. Nobody got towed, but the city still wants its money.
Marco Sturm's Bruins head to Winnipeg on Friday and Minnesota on Saturday. Mike Sullivan's Rangers host Tampa Bay on Thursday.
If the league stays quiet, the Rangers will remember it. If a fine lands, Boston will call it paperwork for a missed whistle.
And the officials who let it slide? They own a piece of this one too.
Should Nikita Zadorov be suspended for the play on Oliver Bjorkstrand?
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