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Watch: Coyotes' Rinaldo gets match penalty for punching Avs' Girard

Matt Kartozian / USA Today Sports

Zac Rinaldo will hear from the NHL's Department of Player Safety over the holiday break.

During Saturday's action, the Arizona Coyotes forward caught Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon with an open-ice hit, at which time 19-year-old Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard came to his teammate's defense. Rinaldo proceeded to drop Girard with a single punch to the face, prompting a line brawl that resulted in ejections for MacKinnon and Arizona's Josh Archibald.

Rinaldo received a match penalty, which results in an automatic one-game suspension pending further review.

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