David Perron of the St. Louis Blues has been fined $5,000 by the NHL for cross-checking Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri during Game 4 Monday night. The fine is, as usual, “the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement,”
The Blues said they would focus on winning Game 4, but they wound up seeking revenge against Kadri during their 6-3 defeat.
Kadri’s actions in Game 3, where his collision with Jordan Binnington put the Blues’ goaltender out for at least the rest of the series, put the focus on him all game -- a game where he recorded a hat trick as Colorado took a 3-1 series lead.
One of the numerous incidents during the game saw Kadri exchange words with Pavel Buchnevich as he was making a line change. That resulted in Perron coming over to deliver a bump on the Avs forward, then Buchnevich shoving Kadri to the ice and Perron coming in for a cross-check.
David Perron has been fined $5,000 for this cross-check on Nazem Kadri last night. pic.twitter.com/S8EzwoJCTv
— Tim and Friends (@timandfriends) May 24, 2022
[NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs 2022 schedule, TV info]
Perron and Buchnevich were given minors and the Avalanche were given a 5-on-3 power play.
When asked afterward about the focus on Kadri, Perron said, “I don’t know if it was just about him. It was about creating a spark. I just felt like we were up 1-0, we had three shots or whatever and then they were up 3-1. I just didn’t feel like we had enough pushback.”
To further the Blues’ pain, moments after the two-man advantage expired Kadri netted his second goal of the night. And after that goal, Perron nearly caught Kadri up high with an elbow as he was celebrating:
Perron after the goal is scored... pic.twitter.com/3yatFCNlf2
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) May 24, 2022
“Kadri and Perron probably should have been two each and we’d be down two minutes with Buchy,” said Blues head coach Craig Berube said. Though Perron thought otherwise saying, “I thought the refs probably made the right calls.”
“That’s just stupid penalties that we cashed in on and it hurt them,” Kadri said afterward. “If you lose your cool, we’ll make you pay.”
The Avalanche will look to close out the series in Game 5 Wednesday night in Colorado.
COLORADO AVALANCHE v. ST. LOUIS BLUES (COL leads 3-1)
Game 1 - Avalanche 3, Blues 2 (OT)
Game 2 - Blues 4, Avalanche 1
Game 3 - Avalanche 5, Blues 2
Game 4 - Avalanche 6, Blues 3
Game 5 - May 25: Blues at Avalanche, 8 p.m. ET (TNT, Sportsnet, CBC, TVA Sports)
*Game 6 - May 27: Avalanche at Blues, 8 p.m. ET (TNT, Sportsnet, CBC, TVA Sports)
*Game 7 - May 29: Blues at Avalanche, TBD
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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.