Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk, Senators’ Nick Cousins fined following heated game
It seems like the only thing coming out of a wild night in the nation’s capital is a few player reaching into their wallets.
On Thursday, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced that Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk has been fined $5,000 for roughing Ottawa Senators forward Dylan Cozens, while Senators forward Nick Cousins has been fined $4,091.49 for unsportsmanlike conduct towards an opponent while he was on the bench.
Both fines are the maximum allowable under the current collective bargaining agreement.
The incident happened minutes into the third period of the highly anticipated matchup between the Atlantic Division rivals, the first time former Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk played against his former team. While training staff was attending to injured Senators netminder Linus Ullmark, a scuffle between the two teams broke out in front of the Ottawa bench.
It initially started with Matthew Tkachuk and Cozens going at it, with no more than some jawing and grabbing. However, it quickly escalated as brother Brady grabbed hold of Cozens, while Matthew was still engaged. That prompted Cousins, sitting on the bench, to reach over and try to pull Matthew off his teammate, who was quickly being double-teamed by the brothers.
The Tkachuks each received a minor penalty for roughing, while Cousins was given two minutes for roughing, along with a 10-minute misconduct. Despite Brady scoring the first goal of the game, the Sens would get the last laugh, coming away with a 5-1 victory. While there weren’t too many chaotic moments, with just one fight between the Sens’ Hayden Hodgson and the Cats’ Boko Imama, the teams still combined for 84 minutes in penalties.
This isn’t the first time either Tkachuk or Cousins has faced supplemental discipline. This marks the third time the DoPS has fined Tkachuk, and he’s also been suspended twice. This is the fourth time Cousins has had to pay for his actions.
