Taylor Hall might as well be the second coming of Todd Bertuzzi, if you listen to some Toronto fans.
Fortunately for Hall and the Bruins, the NHL's Department of Player Safety had a more measured reaction to Hall's jab to the head of Ilya Lyubushkin Tuesday night.
The league announced Wednesday morning that Hall has been fined $5,000 for roughing, the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement. He will not be suspended.
The incident came late in the second period. After the refs missed Lyubushkin hitting Hall from behind in the neutral zone, Hall got up and responded by jabbing Lyubushkin in the side of the head from behind.
While it didn't appear to be a particularly forceful punch -- certainly nowhere close to the level of Bertuzzi's infamous 2004 attack that ended Steve Moore's career -- Lyubushkin was hurt on the play and didn't return to the game. Hall got a two-minute minor for roughing.
Teammate Morgan Rielly said after the game that he had talked to Lyubushkin and that it "seems like he's going to be OK."
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said after the game that he understood why Hall was upset, given that David Pastrnak had gotten a penalty earlier in the game for a softer hit than Lyubushkin's on Hall.
"Taylor got upset, and rightfully so, because Pasta had a hard, clean hit earlier in the game and we're told, 'No one likes to get hit like that.' And he receives the same hit," Cassidy said. "They're communicating to us, and they have to back up their standard. If that's their standard, that's their standard. That's entirely up to them. They're the ones that are on the ice, but just stick to your standard. I get why Taylor was upset."
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