The National Hockey League’s crackdown of pregame shenanigans continues as the Montreal Canadiens’ Arber Xhekaj and the Washington Capitals’ Dylan McIlrath were both fined for a pre-game incident along with their teams.
The Capitals and Canadiens were each fined $25,000, with Xhekaj hit for $3,385.42 and McIlrath for $2,018.23. The NHL did not provide additional information about what specifically prompted the fines.
The two players appeared to exchange words at center ice.
This is the second such set of fines during the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Last week, the Ottawa Senators were fined $25,000 with Nick Cousins paying an additional $2,083.33 for shooting a puck at Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz during warm-ups.
This is also the second time fines have been handed out in this series; last game, Washington’s Tom Wilson and Montreal’s Josh Anderson were each fined $5000 for unsportsmanlike conduct after a post-buzzer fight spilled into the Caps’ bench.
