NHL delivers verdict on Ben Chiarot’s head butting Ross Colton in Game 1 of Florida Battle

The Florida Panthers might have lost Game 1 of the second round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but they were lucky not to lose defenseman Ben Chiarot on top of it all.

That’s because Chiarot only received a $5,000 fine, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for Head-butting Tampa Bay’s Ross Colton.

During the second period, Chiarot and Colton were battling hard in front of the net, going back and forth by hitting one another with their sticks when the scrum ended with the Panthers’ blue liner head butting Colton.

This is the play in question, and Chiarot was not penalized for the head butting: he, as well as Colton, got a minor for roughing.

It did not take long for fans on social media to wonder if the NHL Player Safety would get involved. Last week, Edmonton Oilers’ Darnell Nurse was suspended for Game 6 against the Los Angeles Kings for head butting Phillip Danault.

While the move was less agressive than Nurse’s, fans wondered if Chiarot would be suspended as well. But no. This is the second round, and it takes more for the NHL to be banned. Only a few dollars off Chiarot’s salary instead.