Toronto Maple Leafs Get Hit By Department of Player Safety, Again.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were able to win a wild Game 2 thanks to a last minute goal by Ryan O’Reilly in regulation to tie it and then a Morgan Rielly overtime winner.

The game saw the Tampa Bay Lightning, like usual get away with whatever they wanted to do. The Toronto Maple Leafs? Not so much.

During overtime Patrick Maroon drilled Jake McCabe from behind with a hit similar to that which landed Kyle Clifford a five-minute major and game misconduct, followed by a one game suspension during the 2022 playoff series.

This time around, not only was Maroon not suspended, he was not even penalized for the hit.

Midway through the third period, with the  Leafs trailing by a goal and headed to the powerplay, the Lightning players again got to do whatever they wanted.

This included Steven Stamkos cross check Morgan Rielly who was face down on the ice and then followed that up by sucker punching Auston Matthews.

With Matthews was carrying scattered equipment, Stamkos who did not have any gloves on grabbed a hold of the Leafs top sniper and threw 5-6 jabs to Matthews face before the big center defended himself.

Stamkos actions is the definition of the instigator rule; however the result was the Leafs lost Matthews for the upcoming powerplay and Stamkos was not penalized for anything further other than a coincidental fighting major.

The Toronto Maple Leafs Get Hit By Department of Player Safety Again

Sunday morning, the NHL Department of Player Safety had announced via Twitter that they had made a ruling from Game 3 of the Tampa Bay and Toronto series.

The result was that Maple Leafs forward Sam Lafferty would be fined the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement for a cross check from the first period.

Lafferty and Ross Colton engaged in a scrum after the whistle with the Maple Leafs forward coming in with a cross check that looked to ride up the shoulders of Colton to his chin.

The fine does not hurt the Maple Leafs in any way, however it just emphasizes how much of a joke George Parros and the Department of Player Safety is.  Through 24 playoff games around the entire league, they have made two decisions, both against the Leafs.

In the post game interview, Sheldon Keefe hit the nail on the head with his comments about the Stamkos incident.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are back in action on Monday night for Game 4 and need to have a huge start and push to put a stranglehold on the series.