Garnet Hathaway fined $5,000 for kneeing

Philadelphia Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway has been fined $5,000 by the NHL Department of Player Safety for kneeing Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski in Thursday night’s season opening game for both teams.

Zach Werenski leaves the game following a scary knee-on-knee collision with Garnet Hathaway.

Hathaway was given a 2-minute minor for kneeing on the play. pic.twitter.com/X01AzYFR55

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 13, 2023

Hathaway was initially given a major penalty on the play but upon further review, the penalty was bumped down to a minor. Werenski left the game as a result.

The Blue Jackets announced on Friday that Werenski was placed on injured reserve and would miss one to two weeks with a a quad contusion as a result of the incident. Defenseman David Jiříček was been recalled from AHL Cleveland to fill the vacancy for now.

Hathaway’s $5,000 fine will be going to the NHL Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

In his Flyers debut, Hathaway recorded 2 shots on goal, 3 blocked shots, and was -1 in 12:33 of ice time while skating on the fourth line with Nicolas Deslauriers and fellow newcomer Ryan Poehling.

Philadelphia won Thursday’s game 4-2 behind two goals from Travis Konecny, a goal from Joel Farabee, and an empty-netter that would stand as the game-winner from Cam Atkinson.

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