Tampa Bay Lightning forward Patrick Maroon picked up a ten-minute misconduct penalty for shooting the puck into the Dallas Stars bench after the buzzer.

As the horn sounded to end the second period of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, Maroon flipped the puck behind linesman Matt MacPherson and into the bench.  The puck struck Stars forward Joel Kiviranta, who was not injured on the play.

The players on the ice converged on Maroon, but the officials moved in to break up the battles.

No penalties were handed out in the resulting scrum, though Maroon did pick up 10 for the shot that set it off.

75.4 Misconduct Penalty – Misconduct penalties shall be assessed under this rule for the following infractions:

(ii) Any player who deliberately throws any equipment out of the playing area. At the discretion of the Referee, a game misconduct may be imposed.

A ten-minute misconduct results in no loss of manpower on the ice, though it did result in Maroon missing half of the third period.

 

Sportsnet’s Kelly Hrudey was calling for a two-minute minor along with the ten-minute misconduct.

Unfortunately the on-ice officials – and the rulebook – didn’t agree.

After returning from his penalty, Maroon played just four more shifts, ending his nice with a -2 and 12 PIM.