New York Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault is furious that the NHL did not come down harder on Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds after an altercation involving Simmonds and Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh during Saturday's game resulted in a concussion for McDonagh.
Simmonds though he was handed a match penalty at the time, wound up escaping punishment beyond missing the remainder of the game against New York. The Flyers forward played Sunday against the Washington Capitals.
"What I didn't expect was the reaction from the league," Vigneault said, per ESPN. "An All-Star player gets sucker-punched, goes down. I wonder if that's [Sidney] Crosby, what happens? What are the consequences?
"And on top of that, a player breaks his stick, throws it at the referee. In the rulebook, that's automatic. It's three games. And nothing happens. It's not even on the sheet after the game."
As you can see in the video, Simmonds took exception to a hit from McDonagh - something that looked suspiciously like a cross check to the head - and threw an unexpected punch at the Rangers captain in retaliation. The team revealed Monday that McDonagh suffered a concussion and will miss a game against the New Jersey Devils as a result of Simmonds' punch.
According to Andrew Gross of North Jersey Media Group, the official gamesheet lists a game misconduct for Simmonds, but says nothing about Simmonds having abused an official or thrown his stick. At the end of the video, you can clearly see an incensed Simmonds reaching around the official guiding him off the ice and throwing his stick.
He had already been ejected from the game at that point.
