David Krejci had had enough of Mathew Barzal during the second period of Saturday night's Game 4, and now he'll have a few grand less as a result of his actions.
The NHL announced on Sunday that Krejci has been fined $5,000 -- the maximum allowable under the CBA -- for slashing Barzal in the groin.
Krejci was initially assessed a five-minute major for spearing, but after reviewing it, the refs changed the call to a two-minute minor for slashing.
While what Krejci did was certainly deserving of a penalty and probably a fine, it came only after Barzal crosschecked Krejci in the back four times in a matter of seconds with no penalty called.
The NHL had been cracking down on crosschecks like that throughout the postseason, with Boston's Sean Kuraly penalized for something similar in Game 3, but Saturday's crew apparently decided to let it go. Brad Marchand got away with a crosscheck of his own a couple minutes after the Krejci-Barzal incident.
“Obviously wasn’t happy about it,” Krejci said of the incident after the game. “He went down pretty easily, but it is what it is. Just put it behind us, that game, make some adjustments and be better next game.”
Barzal, meanwhile, said after the game that he was "surprised" by Krejci's slash and thought it was "a tad vicious."
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