The NHL handed out its first diving/embellishment fine of the 2016-17 season on Thursday when Arizona Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson was hit with a $2,000 fine for an incident that happened against the Nashville Predators on Nov. 3.
Ekman-Larsson had previously been issued a warning for another embellishment incident in an October game against the New Jersey Devils.
This latest infraction happened midway through the third period of the of the Coyotes’ 3-2 shootout win after he had blocked a Kevin Fiala shot at the blue line and attempted to chase the play down through the neutral zone. Fiala was given a two-minute minor for interfering with Ekman-Larsson on the play.
Ekman-Larsson was not given an embellishment penalty on the play.
Here is a look at the play, via the NHL.
The NHL started fining players for diving a couple of years ago in an effort to cut down on embellishment. The league has now issued 23 fines for it since the start of the 2014-15 season, including 12 a season ago.
Each time a player gets hit with an infraction the fine gradually increases all the way up to $5,000.