NHL Player Safety comes down on Niko Mikkola for causing a brawl.

The National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety has made a great decision here.

On Monday, the disciplinary arm of the league announced that Florida Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola would face additional discipline for his actions on Sunday night. At the buzzer of what was a 3-2 loss at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens, Mikkola fired off a shot in the direction of Canadiens defenseman David Savard, nearly striking him in the head in the process.

While it was a dangerous play, the league has opted not to suspend Mikkola for his actions and instead has awarded him a $5,000 fine, the maximum fine they can give under the current rules of the collective bargaining agreement, for violating the "unsportsmanlike conduct" rule.

Now I say that this is a good decision because the last thing anyone wanted to see here was Mikkola facing a suspension, and that includes fans of the Montreal Canadiens. You see Mikkola and the Panthers will play the Canadiens again this week and with that game having serious playoff implications for both teams as well as this added drama now layered on top of it, it is going to make for a must-watch game for both the Panthers fan base as well as the Canadiens fan base.

Below you can see a replay of the incident itself, as well as the brawl that ensued between the two teams as a result:

Did the NHL make the right call here? Let me know what you think in the comments.