Jordan Binnington's Dirty, Dangerous Trip on Matthew Knies Deserves Attention From Player Safety

Earlier this week, we saw Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson was slapped with a $5,000 fine for what the NHL's Department of Player Safety deemed a dirty hit. The play was a reverse hit, landed on Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jake Guentzel, who was attempting to get to a loose puck in the neutral zone.

There have been plays worse than this that haven't resulted in any supplemental discipline, or even a penalty, yet because it's the Maple Leafs, not only was Ekman-Larsson penalized for the hit, he was also slapped with the fine, and there are some rumblings that a suspension was even on the table.

Surely, we can expect the same for Binnington, right?

Tonight, during a Matthew Knies scoring opportunity, Binnington left his net and kicked out his right leg, connecting with the feet of Knies, sending the sophomore winger tumbling into the boards at a high rate of speed.

Given how far out of the net Binnington was, I'm not sure what the intent was here if not to take Knies' legs out from under him to prevent the scoring chance. It was a reckless play that could have resulted in a serious injury.

Binnington was not issued a tripping penalty on the play, shockingly, and Knies was very slow to get up after crashing awkwardly into the boards. If Player Safety doesn't take a long look at this one, I'll be at a loss for words, and I'm sure I won't be the only one.