Islanders: Rangers Ryan Lindgren gets tepid fine for Jordan Eberle hit

After cross-checking New York Islanders Jordan Eberle into the post, New York Rangers Ryan Lindgren has been fined by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety.

At 15:29 of the second period on Thursday night, New York Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren cross-checked New York Islanders forward Jordan Eberle in the back and forced the Isles forward to crash face-first into the Rangers net.

Here’s a replay of the hit.

Eberle would need help from his teammates to get off the ice and wouldn’t return until the third period. As punishment for his dirty hit, Lindgren received a two-minute minor penalty for cross-checking.

Based on the severity of the hit, as is stated in the Rule Book (

Rule 59.3

) Lindgren should have at least received a major penalty on the play. On Friday, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety effectively agreed with that sentiment by fining Lindgren.

Max Fine

The Department of Player Saftey indicated via Twitter that Lindgren had received a maximum fine of $2,486.56 for his act against Eberle on Thursday.

With a salary of $925,000, a $2,486.56 fine is 0.2 percent of his total salary. Just to put that into perspective, the average 21-year-old in the US makes $616 per week or $32,032 annually. Lindgren’s fine amounts to $64.

It’s a ridiculously paltry sum of money for Lindgren to pay for effectively taking out the Islanders best player for a quarter of the second period. The extra power-play time would have been worth more to the Islanders.

There’s no guarantee that the Islanders win the game or even score a goal with that extra power-play time – the Isles were 0-for-5 on the power play on the night – but with enough opportunities, even a bad power play team will eventually convert.

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What the fine reveals is that the officials got the call on the ice wrong. The severity of the contact from Lindgren was such that a two-minute minor penalty was not a harsh enough punishment for Lindgren.