It appears Brayden Point avoided serious injury following a questionable elbow from Ryan Johansen during a clash between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.
That, however, didn’t stop the NHL Department of Player Safety from going after Johansen’s wallet on Wednesday for his actions.
Nashville’s Ryan Johansen has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for Elbowing Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) December 4, 2019
With the Lightning up 2-1 midway through the second period, Johansen was tracking a puck to the right of his goaltender Pekka Rinne in Nashville’s defensive zone. A split-second before retrieving the biscuit on the boards, Johansen stopped and threw his left arm backwards in what can only be assumed was an attempt to protect the puck from an incoming Point.
In doing so, Johansen clipped the 23-year-old Lightning star in the face and sent him tumbling to the ice.
Ryan Johansen gets ejected for elbowing Brayden Point pic.twitter.com/xbygIciWYJ
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) December 4, 2019
After a review of the play by the game’s officials, Johansen was assessed a major penalty for elbowing and a game misconduct.
Point appeared to be alright after collecting himself, but needed to go to the dressing room to change his jersey, which had plenty of his own blood on it.
The Lightning did not score on the five-minute man advantage, but went on to win the game 3-2 in overtime.
This isn’t Johansen’s first encounter with NHL Department of Player Safety. He was suspended two games in January for his reckless slash to the head of Winnipeg Jets star Mark Scheifele.
Prior to that incident, Johansen hadn’t been disciplined by the league.
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