Chris Kreider breaks rule and throws Matthew Tkachuk's mouth guard into crowd

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Josh Tupper
May 29, 2024 (8:20)

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Chris Kreider, a forward with the Rangers, may be disciplined for throwing Matthew Tkachuk's mouthguard into the crowd during yesterday night's game, which violated NHL regulations.

As teams do throughout a conference finals series, the New York Rangers and Florida Panthers have grown to detest one another. Following Jacob Trouba's filthy elbow in Game 3, it was evident that tensions between the two sides had skyrocketed. That was made abundantly clear when Chris Kreider started dating Matthew Tkachuk.

Kreider grabbed Tkachuk's trademark lip guard out of his mouth after the two players got into a post-whistle scuffle. To Tkachuk's amazement, Kreider snatched the mouthguard and threw it into the crowd as referees separated the two groups.

Chris Kreider just threw Matthew Tkachuk's mouth guard into the crowd after the scrum 😅

Chris Kreider just threw Matthew Tkachuk's mouth guard into the crowd after the scrum 😅 pic.twitter.com/SPmRUsoeXl� Rob Taub (@RTaub_) May 29, 2024

The referees chose not to punish Kreider even though this was obviously against the league's regulations; this was probably because the punishment was listed in the rule book as a required game misconduct.

Rule 53.5

Game Misconduct Penalty- A game misconduct penalty shall be imposed on a player who intentionally throws his stick or any part thereof or any other object or piece of equipment outside the playing area.

The NHL and the commissioner have the power to impose additional penalty even though there are no required suspensions for this infraction. While it is improbable that the league will suspend Kreider in the middle of such a crucial series, he might be fined for his behavior.

The real concern here is how this was allowed to happen on the ice by the referees. Once again, the referees decided not to intervene despite the fact that this is a clear-cut regulation with no room for interpretation. After that, the Panthers prevailed in overtime to square the series.