NHL Player Safety comes down on Matthew Tkachuk after Game 4.

The National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety(DOPS) has come down on Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk, and I suspect he's not going to be too happy about it.

On Monday, the DOPS announced that Tkachuk would be fined $5,0000, the maximum allowable amount under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, for a cross-check he delivered to Boston Bruins forward Garnet Hathaway.

The cross-check was fairly egregious with Tkachuk striking Hathaway from behind, striking him in an unprotected area of his lower back, and doing so after the final horn had sounded for the end of the first period. I suspect that a combination of all of these factors are why the league felt additional discipline was warranted in this instance.

Tkachuk was awarded a 2 minute minor penalty at the time of the incident and he wasn't happy about that to begin with, indicating during an interview that he felt Hathaway had taken a dive on the play.

"It's kinda one of those pretty chippy games." said Tkachuk. "If you get cross-checked go down, try to draw a penalty. It seems that's the way this game is kinda going."

He likely will be even less happy now that he has been fined for the same incident.