The National Hockey League has rescinded the major penalty for goaltender intereference assessed to Colorado Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon for running into Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram.
The penalty came late in the second period of Tuesday’s game in Edmonton. Referees Kelly Sutherland and Brandon Schrader called a major penalty on the play — a call they confirmed via video review. Major penalty calls are reviewed by the on-ice officials, not by the NHL’s centralized Situation Room.
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety opted not to levy additional punishment. Now Hockey Operations has gone back and removed the penalty, wiping MacKinnon’s slate clean, as reported by Corey Masisak of the Denver Post.
Why?
Multiple game misconduct penalties within the same infraction category may result in an automatic one-game suspension. It happened to MacKinnon’s former linemate Mikko Rantanen earlier this season. The Stars winger was hit with boarding major penalties twice in one week, resulting in an automatic one-game ban.
Under Rule 23.6:
Any player who incurs a total of two (2) game misconduct penalties in the “Physical Infractions Category”, before playing in 41 consecutive regular season League games without such penalty, shall be suspended automatically for the next League game of his team. For each subsequent game misconduct penalty, the automatic suspension shall be increased by one game.
For what it’s worth, the league’s not wrong in their re-assessment of the play. As we discussed on the #RefsPodcast, we felt a minor penalty could be justified, but that a major penalty was too severe — especially considering that contact from defenseman Darnell Nurse helped to steer MacKinnon into the goaltender. The degree of violence of the hit, which is the differentiating criteria for a major penalty, would undoubtedly have been far lower – if there were contact at all – had Nurse not bumped the Avs’ center.
With the penalty rescinded, MacKinnon’s slate is clean.
It also shows – in a rare peek behind the curtain – that the NHL offices may not have agreed with the call on the ice.
