CHICAGO — Mathew Barzal avoided suspension for his two-handed slash on Mason Marchment that got him thrown out of Sunday’s 4-2 Islanders loss to the Blue Jackets.
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced Monday that Barzal was fined $5,000 for the incident, the maximum allowable under the CBA, but that was the only supplemental discipline Barzal received.
That is a fine Barzal will likely be happy to pay given his availability for Tuesday’s game against the Blackhawks is no longer in question.
The Islanders uniformly defended Barzal after the game, saying they felt Marchment had gone over the line in sticking a knee out to trip Matthew Schaefer and were happy to see Barzal stand up for the rookie.
Even Marchment admitted to reporters in the Blue Jackets dressing room that he had perhaps taken things a bit far.
“I’m kind of used to it by now, it’s part of my game to try to get in the other teams’ head a little bit,” Marchment said. “I was never trying to hurt him there in the middle, just get in his way. Probably not smart by me.”
Schaefer avoided any injury from the play, finishing the game in stride with 25 minutes.
Barzal missed the final 38:26 after being hit with a five-minute slashing major and game misconduct, which may have factored into the NHL’s decision not to suspend him.
The Islanders clearly missed him as they struggled to generate offense with a makeshift line of Jonathan Drouin centering Anders Lee and Simon Holmstrom, but that was a price they seemed willing to pay for protecting their superstar rookie.
“We thought it was a knee on Schaef,” coach Patrick Roy said after the game. “We’re never gonna blame a teammate going and trying to defend a teammate. … I liked the response by Barzy.”
Connor Bedard was on the ice before the Blackhawks practiced Monday, but did not take any shots and is not expected to return against the Islanders on Tuesday.
Schaefer and Bo Horvat will learn whether or not they make Team Canada’s Olympic squad on Wednesday ahead of a press conference held by Hockey Canada to announce the roster that will go to Milan.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
