NEW YORK - The National Hockey League has fined the New York Rangers $250,000 for publicly criticizing the league's handling of Washington's Tom Wilson.
By contrast, Wilson was fined just $5,000 for going after Pavel Buchnevich and Artemi Panarin on Monday.
Panerin suffered a season-ending injury.
The Rangers were upset that Wilson wasn't suspended and in a statement they called his actions a horrifying act of violence.
They also accused the league's head of player safety of dereliction of duty.
In fining the Rangers, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the extent to which they expressed their disagreement was demeaning and unacceptable.
In Wednesday night's rematch, the Blueshirts responded by fighting three Capitals players right at the opening faceoff.
There were a total of six fights in the first five minutes of the game.
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