NHL DoPS Makes Official Decision on Artem Zub's Vicious Elbow to John Tavares

Even though the Ottawa Senators ended up getting the 4-3 OT victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, they may be in some hot water with the NHL Department of Player Safety after Artem Zub's dirty elbow to the head of John Tavares.

It was a brazen display of unsportsmanlike behavior, and Zub avoided any punishment during the game, but that doesn't mean that he's getting away unscathed.

Or is he?

Well, the Player Safety Department ended up giving their verdict regarding Zub's actions, and they were letting things go.

While it seems the NHL has decided to make sure these types of incidents keep happening over and over again, and if Zub's allowed to skate around and wreak havoc unchecked, then it sets a precedent for the rest of the playoffs.

The only saving grace that Zub may have had with regards to avoiding punishment was the fact that Tavares was not seriously injured and managed to return to the game later on in OT.

While he was able to avoid further discipline, it's been the story of the first round so far, as the Senators seem to be trying everything under the sun to not only get into the Maple Leafs' heads but also find ways to gain an advantage using some less than honorable tactics.

Nick Cousins and the team were separately fined for their Game 3 antics, and while things have seemingly smoothed over in that regard, it shows the type of team Travis Green is putting out each night, and that's not a compliment.

Zub is arguably Ottawa's best defenseman when it comes to being a true shutdown guy on the blue line and if he were to miss, then the Maple Leafs more than likely would have had a much easier time closing things out in Game 5.

This postseason, the defenseman has one assist, two hits, six blocks and a minus-2 rating in his four games thus far.

He'll have his chance to make more of an impact as the Maple Leafs and Senators do battle on Tuesday night, but don't expect the blue and white to take too kindly to Zub on the ice, and he may end up black and blue at the end of it all.