A day later, all the talk is centered around Artemi Panarin and Brad Marchand. Apparently, the Bruins’ star left wing said something that set Panarin off between the benches.

While Marchand sarcastically joked afterwards that Panarin didn’t like what he had for Thanksgiving dinner, the normally under control 30-year old superstar flipped out. As has been well documented, he angrily tossed his glove at Marchand on the Bruins bench.

It was exactly what he wanted. Trash talk is part of sports. Allegedly, The Rat went too far. When asked by reporters about it, Panarin said that Marchand crossed the line by personally attacking him. His reaction resulted in a $5,000 fine from NHL Player Safety today.

If he did push the buttons of Panarin by saying something about Russia, I get it. However, throwing a glove at Marchand makes no sense with the game decided. This is the latest example of Marchand getting underneath the skin of a player. He relishes it.

Should Panarin have received a fine for his reaction? No. It’s unsportsmanlike conduct, which is in the NHL rulebook. That is sufficient. It pales in comparison to Tom Wilson jumping Pavel Buchnevich last season and punching him in the head.

It seems hypocritical of the Department of Player Safety to assess the identical fine to Panarin for that shenanigans while Wilson got off easy. Like I said in last night’s game story, the league can’t be taken seriously. They don’t protect players enough. If they did, Wilson would’ve received a suspension last year and P.K. Subban would’ve as well for his repeated illegal slew foots with the most recent one ending the season for Sammy Blais.

In some cases, fining a player isn’t enough. It allows them to get a slap on the wrist. Unacceptable. They say they care about player safety. I don’t see it. There’s no consistency.

Is it okay for Charlie McAvoy not to receive at least a fine for his reckless play on Kevin Rooney? He stuck out his leg and slew footed Rooney, who could’ve been seriously hurt in the final minute. His tripping minor drew an immediate response from both Adam Fox and Barclay Goodrow, who cross-checked McAvoy. The right reaction to such a cheap play.

You have to ask why McAvoy is allowed to get away with that. Even if he has a squeaky clean reputation, it was a dangerous play. He should’ve been fined the $5,000 that they took out of Panarin’s hefty wallet.

Instead, he got nothing. Why? Because Rooney popped right back up and was okay. It’s ridiculous. The same Player Safety fined Andrei Svechnikov $5,000 for kneeing Scott Laughton in yesterday’s Hurricanes’ 6-3 win over the Flyers.

There’s no difference here. Why the inconsistency? McAvoy is a good player. But he should’ve received the same fine for his actions. Rooney is lucky he wasn’t seriously hurt.

It brings into question the league’s credibility. They’ll fine Panarin for a silly glove toss that didn’t accomplish anything except create media overreaction. But won’t do the same to McAvoy, who did much worse with under a minute remaining.

It’s disappointing. Hockey fans are knowledgeable and understand the sport. It’s about time the NHL stops insulting our intelligence.