NHL Player safety comes down on Hathaway for elbowing Eriksson Ek.

The National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety has responded to an incident on Saturday night that caused quite a stir on social media.

First, the disciplinary arm of the league officially announced on Sunday morning that Philadelphia Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable amount under the rules of the collective bargaining agreement, for an elbow he delivered to the head and face of Minnesota Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek.

There was a great deal out of outrage on social media following the game on Saturday, with many feeling that Hathaway was deliberately targeting Eriksson Ek's already broken nose at several points throughout the game. There was of course the elbow itself, which has now resulted in a fine, but Minnesota Wild insider Mike Russo also pointed to another incident late in the game where he felt Hathaway was intentionally targeting Eriksson Ek's already damaged nose.

Eriksson Ek himself complained to the NHL officials during the game, namely NHL referee Chris Rooney, but the officials on the ice clearly did not agree with his perspective at the time. It seems the league itself felt Eriksson Ek did have some right to be upset with the officiating, given their decision to hit Hathaway with additional discipline for the infraction on Sunday.

While a $5,000 fine isn't going to be a huge deal for Hathaway, the fact remains that he will now be considered a repeat offender should he find himself on the wrong side of NHL Player Safety at any point in the near future.

These two teams will go head to head again in December and I expect that the bad blood from last night's game is very likely to spill over once again in their next matchup.