NHL Player Safety punishes Oliver Ekman-Larsson for a clean hit on Jake Guentzel!

NHL Player Safety has fined Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson $5,000 for his hit on Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jake Guentzel. Officially, Ekman-Larsson has been fined for 'interference'... which isn't something I've ever heard before.

Check it out:

Here's the hit in question:

Look... go ahead and call interference. The puck is in play, but you can argue that Guentzel wasn't in possession of the puck at the time of the hit, so go ahead and call interference. But supplemental discipline for an open ice, reverse hit? C'mon...

I'm all for progression in the sport and keeping these athletes healthy, but what are we doing? Should we just remove body contact from the sport entirely? Because that what it seems the NHL is trending toward...

Read below for our Leafs report from yesterday's game, published as events occurred last night.

UPDATE: The Toronto Maple Leafs have absolutely WAXED the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight, but at least the Lightning have scored a takedown in the main event.

Lightning forward Zemgus Girgensons managed to drop Leafs forward Max Domi with a takedown, right after Domi managed to land a HUGE right on Girgensons.

Check it out:

Call it a draw Lick your wounds, Bolts fans.

Tonight all eyes will be on the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs are both two teams are the only active teams in the NHL this evening.

There's just one game on the docket tonight and things are starting off spicy already.

During warmup, just minutes before puck drop Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevsky appeared to annoy Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly with a bit of a snow-shower at center ice.

Check it out:

I'd love to have heard Rielly's comment to Vasilevsky, it's clear that the two had words. It's also clear that the Lightning have free rein to pull stuff like this on the Leafs whenever they choose, since there's no pushback.