The Vegas Golden Knights, down 2-0 in their second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers, caught a break when one of their players avoided a suspension after a hearing.
The NHL Player Safety department announced that Golden Knights forward Nicolas Roy would have a hearing on Friday night for cross-checking Edmonton’s Trent Frederic during Game 2.
But when the hearing was over, the department decided on a $7,812.50 fine, the maximum allowed, rather than a suspension.
Roy had brought up his stick and cross-checked Frederic in the face during overtime. The Oilers forward left the game and later returned with a cotton swab in his nostril.
The Golden Knights killed off the five-minute penalty before the Oilers eventually won on a Leon Draisaitl goal.
‘Very atypical of Nic, but they called it and it was the right call,’ coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters on Friday. ‘We’ll see what comes of it.’
Cassidy said he had no update on defenseman Brayden McNabb, who went hard into the boards on an unpenalized trip by Viktor Arvidsson not long before the Draisaitl goal.
‘We’ll see where he’s at (Saturday) in terms of game status,’ Cassidy said.
The Golden Knights will visit the Oilers at 9 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast by TNT and truTV.