BRANDON, Fla. — Kevin Hayes, the comedian.
The Rangers forward took a humorous approach to his $5,000 fine levied for spraying a water bottle from the bench at the Lightning’s Alex Killorn during the 2-1 overtime victory at Amalie Arena in Tampa on Thursday night.
“Basically, the ice was pretty dry, so I wanted to get it wet,” Hayes deadpanned after his team’s practice Friday.
The Department of Player Safety announced the fine Friday morning, to go along with matching fines for Killorn and for Steven Stamkos.
The incident happened at 3:01 of the third period, when Hayes sprayed from the bench, then Killorn speared him from the ice with his stick. A melee ensued, which included a fight between Steven Kampfer and J.T. Brown.
After the officials called an extra two-minute minor on Killorn for slashing, Stamkos furiously argued with the officials about the call and eventually went to his bench. He sprayed a water bottle in the direction of the refs and the Rangers — only hitting MSG reporter John Giannone, who was between the benches.
“Just had some words,” Hayes said. “Something like that happens all the time.”
After getting into two fights, Kampfer got the day off practice under the guise of “maintenance,” but coach Alain Vigneault had a better explanation.
“Gooned it up the other day, so [he] deserved the day off,” Vigneault said.
Kampfer is expected to stay in the lineup for the team’s match against the Panthers in Sunrise, Fla., on Saturday night, along with Nick Holden. That would leave Brendan Smith as likely a healthy scratch for the second straight game and fourth time this season.
Up front, it seems Vigneault is going to make David Desharnais a scratch in order to get Paul Carey back into the lineup.
Carey last played Oct. 13, and has sat out nine straight.
“There’s no doubt that Paul has been out for a while. He’s been working hard,” Vigneault said after practicing with Carey in Desharnais’ spot between Jimmy Vesey and J.T. Miller. “Looking at a couple options and putting him back in the lineup is one of them.”
Although the team practiced differently, the defensive pairs are supposed to stay the same as they were for the game against Tampa, with Ryan McDonagh alongside Holden, Brady Skjei with Kevin Shattenkirk and Marc Staal with Kampfer.
Vigneault said Henrik Lundqvist would get his third straight start in goal after sitting for two straight before that.