The NHL has rescinded both the automatic one-game suspension to Brenden Morrow and the $10,000 fine to Dallas Stars head coach Dave Tippett.
Morrow received an instigator penalty in the final five minutes of the game when he fought Kings forward Dustin Brown after Brown hit Stars forward Mike Ribeiro into the boards.
NHL rules deem any player who instigates a fight in the final five minutes receives an automatic one-game suspension and his coach shall be fined $10,000, but the NHL reserves the right to review each case and determine whether it meets the "spirit of the rule." The rule was instituted to cut down on late-game shenanigans, especially when the outcome of the game was already determined.
But Morrow's instigating of the fight with Brown was purely to avenge Brown's hit on Ribeiro and put the Stars in a shorthanded situation for three minutes – one minute in regulation time and two minutes in overtime – in a 2-2 game that was eventually won by the Kings in a shootout.
Brown was ejected from the game and assessed a five-minute major for boarding. No further disciplinary action is expected.
