Ottawa Charge’s Tereza Vanisova fined for boarding New York Sirens’ Taylor Girard
Some supplemental discipline has come out of the very physical game between the Ottawa Charge and New York Sirens on Monday night.
On Wednesday, the PWHL Player Safety Committee announced that Charge forward Tereza Vanišová has been fined $500 for boarding Sirens forward Taylor Girard.
The incident happened just past the six-minute mark of the third period. Vanišová missed a great scoring chance on New York goaltender Kayle Osborne. While pursuing the puck afterward, Vanišová leveled Girard into the sideboards from behind. Girard gingerly got up to her feet, and was able to get back to the bench under her own power.
The officials went to video review to determine the severity of the penalty, ultimately deciding on a five-minute major penalty for Vanišová, but not enough to warrant a game misconduct.
Following another boarding penalty by the Charge, the Sirens were able to cash in on the power play, as Jessie Eldridge scored her fourth goal of the season. It put the icing on the cake for New York, coming out on top by a final score of 3-0.
The reason for the $500 fine is that this is the second time Vanišová’s actions have led to her lightening up her wallet. On March 20 of last season, coincidentally against New York, Vanišová was given a five-minute major for boarding Abby Roque. That led to the Czech forward paying a $250 fine.
Vanišová’s physicality has put her in some trouble already this season. She was given a five-minute major for boarding and game misconduct after hitting Toronto Sceptres defender Renata Fast in a similar fashion on New Year’s Eve. The soon-to-be 29-year-old leads the league in penalty minutes (28) after leading the PWHL with 37 minutes in penalties during the inaugural season.
Yet, Vanišová still leads the Charge with six points in 13 games.
The Charge (5-0-2-6) is set to visit the Montreal Victoire on Wednesday night. Ottawa is fourth in the league, eight points back of the first-place Minnesota Frost, but just two ahead of the Boston Fleet for the last playoff spot.
The PWHL Player Safety Committee is chaired by PWHL Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Jayna Hefford, special advisor Cassie Campbell-Pascall, former NHL referee Bill McCreary, longtime NHL executive Mike Murphy and NHL Department of Player Safety member Matt McMahon.