Carolina Hurricanes forward Jordan Staal has been fined $5,000 for a dangerous trip.
The infraction came against Nashville Predators forward Luke Kunin at 13:56 of the second period of Game 3 of their first round Stanley Cup Playoff series. Staal was given a minor penalty on the play by referees Francis Charron and Jon McIsaac.
The tripping call could potentially have been a slew-footing penalty; if it had been, Staal would’ve been ejected. From the NHL rulebook:
Slew-footing is the act of a player using his leg or foot to knock or kick an opponent’s feet from under him, or pushes an opponent’s upper body backward with an arm or elbow, and at the same time with a forward motion of his leg, knocks or kicks the opponent’s feet from under him, causing him to fall violently to the ice.
Any player who is guilty of slew-footing shall be assessed a match penalty.
Staal headed off 30 seconds after Carolina’s Warren Foegele shot the puck over the glass to put the Hurricanes down a man.
Nashville went on to win the game 5-4 in double overtime.
Staal’s $5000 fine is the maximum allowable under the NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.
