Rangers' Kreider fined $5K for elbowing Canucks' Pettersson

New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for elbowing Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson during Wednesday's contest, NHL Player Safety announced Thursday.

The 27-year-old Kreider was also given a five-minute major and a game misconduct following the play.

Here's a look at the incident:

Pettersson, who previously suffered a concussion on Oct. 13 after being slammed to the ice by Florida Panthers defenseman Mike Matheson, returned to Wednesday's game following the elbow and insisted he felt fine.

"I started bleeding from my nose so that's why I went down," Pettersson told reporters, including Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province. "My head was feeling fine all the time. But of course, it's a protocol that you have to do they suspect you have a concussion."

This is the second fine of Kreider's career. He was given a $5,000 penalty in 2017 for hitting forward Cody Eakin, a member of the Dallas Stars at the time, with his helmet.

When asked about Kreider's intent on the latest play, Pettersson took the diplomatic approach.

“I saw he was coming, so I looked away and he lifted his arm and his elbow and got me in the head,” he said. “Intentional? I don’t know. I don’t think he’s a dirty player and I can’t talk for him."

The Canucks will be back in action Friday night when they host the New Jersey Devils.