NY Islanders' Mathew Barzal receives a $5k fine for his slash on Mason Marchment

When Mathew Barzal’s stick came knifing down into the foot of Mason Marchment, the optics weren’t great. He’d receive a 5-minute major and match penalty, and it appeared as if George Paros and the Department of Player Safety could come crashing down on the NY Islanders star.

But no significant subsequent discipline came Barzal’s way, as he received only a $5,000 fine earlier today.

Barzal receives a $5k fine

Though Barzal’s absence was notable in the final 38:13 of play in a game in which they were unable to sustain any offense in the third period, Barzal sent a message to the rest of the league that they’re not going to stand for opposing players targeting rookie Matthew Schaefer.

Without any true enforcer in the lineup, Barzal took matters into his own hands, symbolizing that no matter who the player is, this entire team is willing to stick up for one another.

“On and off the ice, he’s a great guy and great leader too,” Schaefer told Ethan Sears of the NY Post about Barzal. “Obviously, that’s for doing that right there. That just shows - an older guy helping me out there. Just like everyone else.”

Schaefer has been targeted by the opposition on more than one occasion, with whoever is on the ice typically running to the star rookie's defense. 

Marchment, who is an agitator and good at it, rarely drops the gloves, having only four fighting majors across 334 regular-season games.

Perhaps Parros, an enforcer of his own during his playing days, is making a point to teams across the NHL that the league will allow teams to police themselves when targeting specific players. Or, maybe since Marchment didn’t miss a shift, he felt the fine itself was punishment enough on top of the game misconduct.