If you watched game four of the Stanley Cup Finals, you probably saw the end-of-game scrum that broke out between the Panthers and Knights. One of the hot topics of conversation following the fight was how the league should discipline Alex Pietrangelo, who left the penalty box to join the scrum.
By The Rulebook
While the NHL rulebook states that leaving the penalty box to engage in a fight is worthy of an automatic ten-game suspension, the NHL seems to be ignoring the Pietrangelo case altogether.
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It should be fairly obvious that Pietrangelo is deserving of a suspension, but clearly, the NHL doesn't see it that way. This doesn't help the countless claims that the NHL has a pro-Vegas bias.
Pietrangelo Claims Innocence
According to a new report by Renaud Lavoie, Pietrangelo backed up his actions from the other night, pinning the blame on the NHL employee running the penalty box.
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Regardless of if Pietrangelo had permission to leave the penalty box, he was not given permission to immediately join the ongoing scrum. He is a veteran and knows better than to put himself in that situation.
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The NHL has certainly dug itself a hole with this ruling, and it should probably be looked into.
As Seen on Twitter
Should Pietrangelo have been suspended?
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