New York Rangers forward Mats Zuccarello was called for a two-minute boarding penalty for his on Los Angeles forward Kyle Clifford, 3:05 into the first period of today's game. The National Hockey League reviewed the hit and had a phone hearing with Zuccarello following the game and decided that while it was not worthy of a suspension a $2,500 fine was in order.
The hit was unnecessary, and borderline reckless, but the amount of distance to the boards certainly limited any potential injury. Maybe is is because of Zuccarello's size, but tough to believe that was basically a "push" from that far away had the ability to hurt someone even though there is always that risk when a player goes into the boards. The fact that Clifford was uninjured certainly limited the potential of anything more doled out here.
