We reported on Sunday that the NHL had warned the Montreal Canadiens and the Washington Capitals to be very careful about how they handled themselves during warmups, TV ad breaks, and the intermission periods.

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On Monday morning, both teams were fined $25,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct in the warmup. Canadiens’ defenseman Arber Xhekaj also received a $3,385.42 fine, and Capitals’ healthy scratch blueliner Dylan McIlrath a $2,018.23 one by the NHL Department of Player Safety.

There was nothing much to the incident, and one can wonder if the Department is aptly named. The players weren’t unsafe in warmup on Sunday night. Since the start of the series, actions have gone unpunished on the ice and could easily have been reviewed had the NHL not been wary of admitting its referees had missed some calls.

Those fines are unlikely to diffuse to a situation that is currently brewing between the two sides, and the physicality is likely to go up, not down, when the two sides meet again on Wednesday night for game five.

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