Alex Ovechkin has been fined $5,000 by the NHL Department of Player Safety for spearing Bruins forward Trent Frederic Wednesday.
Late in the third period, Ovechkin and Frederic entered into a tussle, which resulted in minor penalties for both. Frederic sat for cross-checking and Ovechkin was given two minutes for slashing.
That slash/spear by Ovechkin drew the attention of Player Safety. The $5,000 total is the “maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement,” which is negotiated by the NHL and NHLPA.
“It’s out of my pay grade,” Frederic said Thursday about the fine. “The NHL does a good job in all that stuff, so I just leave it up to them.”
[Your 2020-21 NHL on NBC TV schedule]
The battle began earlier in the period when Ovechkin went into the boards after being tied up with Frederic. Ovechkin took exception, quickly got to his skates to confront Frederic, who felt it was an invitation to fight. That wasn’t the case.
“I thought it was kind of natural,” Frederic said. “When I dropped him, he went in the boards weird, and when he got up, he wasn’t happy about it. The read I got was, ‘I don’t know if you want to fight me or what?’ So, that’s the read I had. Maybe [the gloves] came off a little quick. But just kind of protecting myself at the same time, too.”
That side of Frederic’s game has endeared him to the Bruins’ coaching staff.
“We like that out of him,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It’s a little bit of abrasiveness. It’s still welcome in the game. He can continue to bring it as long as he doesn’t get off his game. If it gets other people off their game, then I think it’s a positive.”
Washington would go on to win the game 2-1 following a shootout. The two teams go again in Boston Friday night.
————
Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.