Dallas Stars winger Mason Marchment was seen hitting the shins of a referee with his stick after a no-call during the second period of the Game 4 win against the Winnipeg Jets, leading many to speculate that the league would discipline him.
That may not be the case after all.
According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, the league has looked into the incident and determined that it's ultimately up to the on-ice officiating crew to determine whether that action qualified as a violation for Abuse of an Official. Because no penalty was called by referee Graham Skilliter in the moment, Marchment is not expected to be further disciplined by the NHL.
League rules state that making contact with a game official is strictly prohibited. Deliberately making contact with an official is grounds for a major penalty (five minutes) and could also result in an ejection for an Abuse of Officials violation. Marchment got off scot-free after tapping the shins of Skilliter late into the second period, and now it looks like he's in the clear in regard to future discipline.
On the play in question, Marchment was frustrated after not getting a call when he was tripped while on a breakaway. Moments later, he got tangled up with Jets forward Mark Scheifele, and, perhaps embellishing slightly, proceeded to slowly skate off the ice, but not before reaching out and making contact with the shins of Skilliter with his stick.
With no discipline to follow, Marchment figures to be back on the ice with his teammates in Game 4, which is set to get underway at 8:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 13.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NHL Makes Decision on Discipline for Stars' Mason Marchment After Incident With Ref.