The Department of Player Safety announced that Stars winger Jamie Benn has been fined $5K for unsportsmanlike conduct in Friday’s game against Chicago. The incident occurred after Blackhawks winger Mackenzie Entwistle was hit into the stanchion early in the third period and had to head off for concussion protocol. While skating to the Dallas bench to leave the ice, Benn squirted Entwistle with his water bottle. The fine is the maximum allowable under the CBA.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- The Blackhawks are expected to be among the teams interested in Russian free agent winger Andrei Kuzmenko, reports Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription link). Chicago has had some success with players coming over from overseas with the likes of Artemi Panarin, Pius Suter, and Dominik Kubalik among those that have signed and made the jump to the NHL which could be appealing to the 26-year-old who finished second in KHL scoring this season. Powers adds that Kuzmenko is expected to interview with teams after the KHL playoffs come to an end so a decision on where he ultimately signs is still a fairly long way out.
- Panthers prospect Santtu Kinnunen has signed a one-year contract extension with Tappara of the SM-liiga, the Finnish team announced. The 22-year-old defenseman was a seventh-round pick of Florida (207th overall) back in 2018 and they have until June 1st to sign him to an NHL entry-level contract. This extension doesn’t prohibit Kinnunen from signing with Florida but if he does sign and doesn’t make the NHL roster, he’d have to go back to his Finnish team. Kinnunen has equaled his 2020-21 output of 19 points in 20 fewer games this season with four goals and 15 assists in 39 contests.
- The Bruins announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Brandon Carlo is listed as questionable for tonight. He took a skate blade to the face in the morning skate from goaltender Linus Ullmark. Boston has seven defensemen on their active roster so they don’t need to make a roster move to bring someone up as insurance in case Carlo is unable to suit up.