Devils’ Timo Meier suspended one game for cross-checking Predators’ Zachary L’Heureux
The New Jersey Devils are going to be without one of their veteran scorers briefly.
On Tuesday, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced forward Timo Meier has been suspended one game for cross-checking Nashville Predators forward Zachary L’Heureux.
The act occurred with several minutes to go in regulation on Monday night. After Predators goaltender Scott Wedgewood covered the puck, Meier and L’Heureux started to get into it behind the Nashville goal. Meier hit the rookie with a couple of cross-checks, one catching L’Heureux up high, sending him down to the ice. That led to a brief kerfuffle between the two teams.
Wow. Timo Meier just cross checked Zach L'Heureux in the face after the play. Blood and injury. It leads to a five minute major penalty.
Predators will have a 5-minute major power play, down two goals. pic.twitter.com/nh6bLkRlNC
L’Heureux quickly removed himself from the playing surface and went straight down the tunnel into the Preds’ dressing room.
Meier was handed a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for the incident. Nashville could not score on the major power play, and went on to lose to the Devils 5-2, thanks to Nico Hischier’s first career hat trick in the second period. Meier picked up an assist on the New Jersey captain’s first goal.
Earlier in the third period, L’Heureux scored his second goal of the season, and his NHL career.
This is the first time Meier has been suspended in the first eight-plus seasons of his NHL career, though he has had to shell out some money in the past. During his first full season in the NHL in 2017-18, he was fined $2,403.67 for elbowing Michael Del Zotto, then a member of the Vancouver Canucks. In March 2019, he was handed a $2,000 fine for a second offense of Rule 64, concerning diving and embellishment.
In 2024-25, Meier has scored seven goals and eight assists for 15 points. In 564 career appearances, the former Moosehead has notched 198 goals and 198 assists for 396 points, with another 24 points coming in 46 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
The Devils (15-7-2) are first in the Metropolitan Division, one point ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes. New Jersey is scheduled to host the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night.