Bennett fined $5,000 for cross-check on Michael Bunting during Game 2 in Toronto
Bennett fined $5,000 for cross-check on Michael Bunting during Game 2 in Toronto
The physical play from Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett has been a focal point of their second-round series with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
He set the tone for Game 2 with a violent, playoff-style hit on rookie Matthew Knies that came late in the first period.
As Bennett carried the puck behind Florida’s net, Knies lined Bennett up for a hit, but the crafty veteran pulled up and let Knies go by him, wrapping him up from behind and taking him into the boards.
With his hand still around Knies’ neck and face, Bennett took the youngster down, slamming his back to the ice.
No penalty was called on the play, but Knies did not return to the game after skating off the ice.
Discussing the play after the game was over, Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk was asked if he thought Bennett would hear from the NHL Department of Player Safety regarding the hit.
Tkachuk laughed.
“I do not think he will hear from Player Safety, no,” he said.
Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice was asked a similar question.
“I think we’ve been on the other side of that ledger enough,” the coach said with a nod.
Perhaps so.
Another hit on Thursday night not only caught the ire of Maple Leafs Head Coach Sheldon Keefe, but the attention of the NHL Department of Player Safety as well.
It came during the second period, with the Panthers leading 3-2 and Toronto fighting in the offensive zone for a potential game-tying goal.
Bennett followed Michael Bunting to the front of the Florida net and as the two jostled for position, Bennett hit Bunting in the neck with the shaft of his stick.
Keefe said after the game that he felt it was similar to a play last season that got Maple Leafs star forward Auston Matthews suspended for two games when he cross-checked Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin in the neck during the Heritage Classic.
“The cross-check on Bunting is eerily similar to the one that we saw with Auston last year in the outdoor game,” Keefe said. “We know how that one worked out, so we’ll see. The league will look at all these kinds of things.”
Watching the play over, Bennett and Bunting both have their eyes on the puck, and Bennett actually drives down with his stick without first raising his body up, indicating the intent was not to hit Bunting that high with a cross-check.
Both guys are on the shorter side; Bennett is 5-foot-10 and Bunting is 5-foot-11.
The Matthews hit on Dahlin was different in that the two were already in a shoving match and Matthews locked eyes on his target and raised his body up before driving down into Dahlin’s neck. Matthews and Dahlin are also both 6-foot-3.
It could be that element, the apparent lack of intent, that saved Bennett from anything worse than a hit to the wallet.
The NHL Department of Player Safety announced on Friday that Bennett had been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for his cross-check on Bunting.
A fine is never a good thing, but it does nothing to impact Bennett’s status in Florida’s lineup.
Remember, he missed a month at the end of the regular season with a lower-body injury and didn’t make his return until Game 2 of the Boston series.
Florida lost four straight games after Bennett went down before Alex Lyon helped right the ship and the Panthers came together to squeak into the playoffs.
To say Bennett’s impact has been substantial since he reentered the lineup would still be an understatement.
You can look at the scoresheet and think, ‘Oh there it is, he’s got four goals and seven points in eight games. He’s a plus-7 with 26 shots’ and you’d be partially right.
As evidenced by the topic of this story and backed up by his play in each and every time he touches the ice, Bennett’s influence on the game is a combination of his offensive skill and physical nature.
It’s why he’s a perfect fit in Maurice’s system, and the reason the Panthers team has a whole has performed so much better when Bennett in the lineup.
His bone-crunching game along the boards and tireless pursuit between the circles can wear down the opposition in the most physically and mentally exhausting ways.
Stretch that out over a long playoff series and you begin to understand how important Bennett’s play has been to the Panthers.
So while no, a fine is not ideal, Bennett and the Cats will surely take it.
As long as he’s back on the ice for Game 3 on Sunday, it’s all good in Sunrise.