Anaheim Ducks forward Trevor Zegras has been fined $1,500 for slashing San Jose Sharks defenseman Matt Benning, the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety announced Wednesday.
The incident between Zegras and Benning occurred at the 12:25 mark of the second period in Tuesday’s 6-5 Ducks shootout win over the Sharks. Zegras received a minor penalty for slashing on the play.
Here’s the video of the slash:
Benning expressed his displeasure with Zegras, who wore a microphone for the Anaheim television broadcast on Tuesday, in a postgame scrum with reporters:
“He’s mic’d up out there and yapping a little bit,” Benning said. “If he wants to be tough, I can play tough too. He went for a cheap shot, it is what it is.”
Zegras assisted on Adam Henrique’s second of two goals in regulation and added a shootout tally to help the Ducks improve to 3-6-1 to begin the 2022-23 regular season.
Despite the loss, Erik Karlsson scored his first career hat trick and became the first Sharks defenseman to score three goals in a single game. The 32-year-old Swede failed to convert on an opportunity to extend the shootout but was still named the game’s first start.
Frank Vatrano, Ryan Strome and Max Comtois also scored for the Ducks in the victory, with Troy Terry adding the shootout winner. Timo Meier contributed a pair of goals for the 3-8-1 Sharks.
Zegras has six goals and eight points through his first 10 games with the Ducks this season. He’s in the final year of the entry-level contract he signed with Anaheim in 2020 and is currently eligible to sign a contract extension (which should ultimately make this $1,500 fine feel rather insignificant).
The Ducks will return to action on Nov. 3 when they visit the 2-6-2 Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena.
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