It’s always been a bit odd to me how actions that would be criminal anywhere else are permitted as long as you’re on a specifically sized sheet of ice with certain lines painted on it.

I can’t speak to this particular incident, but I officiated for a number of years the things some players did were just vicious. Deliberate cross checks or slashes to the head, checks from behind, all purely with the intent to injure…step off the ice, you’re probably facing time, but on the ice, it’s part of the game.