NHL Player Safety Officially Makes Decision On Rodrigues' Questionable Hit on Tavares

The Maple Leafs and Panthers ended up clashing in Game 3 with a lot of intensity in the air, and one particular incident is causing a bit of a stir.

It seems that Florida forward Evan Rodrigues ended up putting in a high hit on John Tavares, seemingly leaving his feet to do so. It was a nasty hit that luckily didn't hurt Tavares, who skated away unscathed.

The NHL's Player Safety Department should be taking a look at the hit, and we know exactly what they thought of things.

It turns out that once again/surprisingly the NHL decided to not give some punishment out for Rodrigues' hit.

While not a surprise give that if Sam Bennett didn't end up getting any punishment for essentially knocking Anthony Stolarz out of the game, it was a likely/unlikely conclusion for Rodrigues.

Tavares has been the center of quite a few attacks over this postseason. Firstly it was Artem Zub who leveled Tavares with an elbow to the head and knocking him out of overtime for a bit, then it was Rodrigues' turn.

The veteran forward must be getting on the nerves of his opponents and they are resorting to underhanded tactics in order to try and subdue him. It's not working as well as they hoped though.

In nine games, Tavares has seven points (5G, 2A) and was responsible for half of the Maple Leafs goals in Game 3, adding his third power play goal; he's a critical part of that special teams unit and they need him to stay healthy.

That means that if the NHL isn't going to do anything about it, then Toronto needs to on their own. While it doesn't mean targeting the Panthers with vicious attacks, there might be a couple of errant elbows or hits that will go by the wayside; this is no holds barred hockey after all.

The NHL seems to be gun shy on providing the Maple Leafs any help when it comes to making sure not only their players are protected, but their opponents are justly punished.

While Rodrigues was/wasn't punished, it's still not going to stop the Panthers from doing what they do.

Toronto just needs to make sure they don't blow a fuse before they finish things out.