Hurricanes’ Nino Niederreiter fined $5,000 by the NHL for hit on Predators’ goalie
Carolina Hurricanes forward Nino Niederreiter has been fined $5,000 by the NHL for his hit on Nashville’s Juuse Saros in Tuesday’s game.
The fine is the maximum allowed under the league’s collective bargaining agreement.
Niederreiter collided with Saros behind the Nashville net in the first period of the Canes’ 4-2 road win at Bridgestone Arena. Leaning to his left as he played the puck, Saros absorbed a helmet-to-helmet hit from Niederreiter, who was skating in attempting to prevent the pass. Niederreiter was penalized two minutes for roughing.
Saros, who allowed two goals in the first period, was removed from the game after the period and replaced by Pekka Rinne.
Predators coach John Hynes, asked about the play on his postgame media call, said: “It was called a penalty. It was a hit to the head. There’s not much more to comment on it. What we all saw is what happened.”
It was the first time a Canes player had been fined or suspended since Kevin Westgarth was suspended two games for boarding Mark Borowiecki on Nov. 25, 2013. That cost him $7,436 in salary.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour was fined $25,000 for comments after the officiating in a postgame press conference on Aug. 12, 2020.
