Bruins' Nikita Zadorov hit with supplemental discipline after controversial punch on Blackhawks player
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Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov was fined $5,000, the maximum under the CBA, for roughing Blackhawks defenseman Alex Vlasic during Saturday's 5-4 overtime win.
Nikita Zadorov will be lighter by $5,000 after the NHL Department of Player Safety hit the Boston Bruins defenseman with the largest fine the CBA allows.
The penalty covers his role in a messy second period scrum against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday afternoon at TD Garden.
How the scrum started
Things boiled over late in the middle frame.
Blackhawks defenseman Alex Vlasic was upset after a hit from Casey Mittelstadt, so he followed him into the neutral zone, dropped his gloves and went after him.
Mittelstadt did not fight back, and a 10-man scrum broke out around them.
Zadorov stepped in, pulled Vlasic off Mittelstadt and then threw a punch while a referee had hold of Vlasic.
That earned him a double minor for roughing plus a 10-minute misconduct, 14 penalty minutes in all.
Vlasic picked up four minutes for roughing, so the game stayed five on five.
It stayed chippy the rest of the way.
In the last five minutes, Zadorov and Blackhawks forward Cole Smith got wrapped up after a whistle, with Boston still chasing the game.
Bruins rally for the win
Boston still found a way to survive the afternoon.
The Bruins trailed 4-2 with under seven minutes left and were still down 4-3 with 15 seconds to play before tying it.
Elias Lindholm then won it in overtime for a 5-4 final.
Chicago did get a milestone out of the afternoon, as Patrick Kane reached 900 career assists and became the 21st player in NHL history to get there.
Zadorov has been here before. He was fined $5,000 in April for cross-checking Buffalo's Rasmus Dahlin in the first round of the playoffs, a play that also got him a major and a game misconduct.
The announcement was a fine only, so Zadorov is not facing a suspension at this point.
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