"What about the elbow to Marner's head?": NHL fans left divided as Max Domi gets fined $5,000 for boarding Panthers' Aleksander Barkov

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Max Domi has been fined $5,000 for boarding Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov. The incident happened in the final moments of Game 4 on Sunday. Florida was winning 2-0 when Domi hit Barkov from behind, and Barkov went headfirst into the boards. It led to a fight between players from both teams, with Domi receiving a five-minute major penalty for boarding and misconduct.

"Toronto’s Max Domi has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for boarding Florida’s Aleksander Barkov," NHL Player Safety tweeted on Monday.

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Many NHL fans were unhappy with the decision.

"What about the elbow to marner's head? Or is that acceptable standards these days..?" a fan said.

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"This is sad. If this was the Panthers, we would’ve been suspended," another fan said.

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"The league clearly wants Florida to win, or they would have suspended him." one fan wrote.

Here are more reactions on X:

"He should’ve been suspended. He committed a dirty major penalty in the last seconds of a game that’s already decided. His goal was to injure the Panthers best player and team captain," a fan said.

"But Marner could be elbowed to the head with no penalty Make it make sense NHL," another fan said.

"The Campbell’s strike again. How can you get fined for playing playoff hockey?" one fan commented.

Maple Leafs coach talked about hit on Mitch Marner, worse than Max Domi's hit

Game 4 between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers on Sunday ended with some controversy, and NHLPS has issued fines. Both teams will now focus on Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead.

The hit by Max Domi received wide media attention, but Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube pointed to another play, which he considered worse. Berube did not talk much about Domi's hit but highlighted an earlier play, as Dmitry Kulikov’s elbow on Mitch Marner did not get a penalty.

"To me, the (Dmitry) Kulikov hit on (Mitch) Marner was 10 times worse," Berube told reporters.

The Panthers won 2-0, after keeping Toronto's core four (Marner, William Nylander, Auston Matthews and John Tavares) and other offensive players in check. Anton Lundell and Sam Reinhart scored for the Panthers.

Game 5 is scheduled for Wednesday in Toronto at 7:00 p.m. EST.

About the author

Ankit is an NHL journalist at Sportskeeda with over 3 years of experience in the writing industry. He has expertise in sports, product, and travel content writing. His interest in ice hockey was piqued after watching Sidney Crosby play and he has been passionately following the game since then. Ankit admires Crosby’s personality and hockey IQ, and when he crossed the 1,500 points tally, Ankit was among the biggest fans to celebrate the occasion.

An Edmonton Oilers fan because of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, Ankit also admires the Pittsburgh Penguins due to Crosby and the Colorado Avalanche for Nathan MacKinnon. He is also a fan of Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr.

Holding a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Language, Ankit believes his education has helped him develop a knack for presenting information in a precise and compelling manner. He only sources information from credible avenues and trusted people from his network for his articles.

When he is not watching or writing about the NHL, Ankit loves listening to music and reading books.

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Edited by Victor Ramon Galvez