On Friday, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced that Ottawa Senators forward Nick Cousins has been fined $2,083.33 for unsportsmanlike conduct following an incident during warm-up ahead of Thursday night’s game. The fine is the maximum allowed under the NHLPA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Earlier today, it was reported that the league was investigating an incident from the warm-up of Game 3, which was later confirmed to be Cousins shooting a puck down the ice at Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz, per Elliotte Friedman. It appeared to be a rather insignificant moment to fans, team members, and media in attendance, but clearly caught the eye of the league, who want to avoid situations like this.
Here’s what NHL is looking at from last night. “Friend of Bieksa” Nick Cousins shoots puck at Stolarz. NHL not crazy about pre-game stuff…also clamped down on funny Scheifele/Hofer standoff in Blues/Jets series pic.twitter.com/ZF08AZwdO4
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) April 25, 2025
Cousins and Stolarz were previously teammates on last year’s Cup-winning Florida Panthers team. Speaking to media Friday morning, Senators head coach Travis Green joked about the situation and didn’t offer much else, considering the minuteness of the incident.
“It’s an active investigation, I don’t know if I should be commenting on it,” Green said, smiling. “Yeah, he’s probably trying to laugh at him, or make a joke, or get him off his game. It is what it is.”
While it does seem likely it was a pretty harmless action, the NHL clearly is not interpreting it with any humour, especially given Cousins’ history. It did evoke some frustration from fans across the board, who feel this kind of situation is not worth the league’s time and resources when other more pressing incidents seem to go unpunished. If anything, the moment seemed to highlight the scrutiny the league faces for its inconsistent officiating and discipline, especially through the postseason so far.
Cousins signed with the Senators in late August last off-season on a one-year, $800,000 deal. Given his career earnings of over $10 million, it’s hard to imagine the fine will faze the 31-year-old much. Still, the fine speaks to the fiery nature of this year’s postseason Battle of Ontario so far, which has seen physicality from both sides, and back-to-back overtime nail biters. That tense atmosphere is sure to linger with the Senators down three games and set to host the Leafs for Game 4 Saturday night, as Toronto has their eyes set on the second round.
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