Possible Suspension Looming for William Nylander After Dirty Cross Check in Last Night's Game

On Wednesday night's Atlantic Division clash between the Florida Panthers and the Toronto Maple Leafs, William Nylander was involved in a controversial play when he landed a cross-check on Panthers defenseman Nate Schmidt.

Nylander was given a double minor penalty on the play, and Schmidt left the game momentarily.

Watch how it went down in the following video:

As of now, we don't know if the NHL's Department of Player Safety will decide to summon Nylander to a hearing.

As we often saw in the past, the NHL tends to be harsh on Leafs players for such gestures, for example, Oliver Ekman-Larsson's $5000 fine for a reverse hit.

Earlier this week, the DoPS suspended the New Jersey Devils forward Timo Meier for one game after a similar cross-check on Nashville Predators' Zachary L'Heureux.

We can't help but see some similarities between the two incidents. If the NHL sees that too, Nylander could get the same verdict as Meier.

Auston Matthews, Max Domi, Matthew Knies, Bobby McMann, David Kampf, Max Pacioretty, and Calle Jarnkrok are all sidelined with injuries. Fans are hoping that Nylander won't be forced to miss a game due to this incident, especially with the challenge ahead.

The Leafs will be back in action Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Not only will they look to bounce back from their tough 5-1 loss to the Florida Panthers, but games against the Lightning are always intense, showing a building rivalry between these two teams.

An update on Nylander is expected from the DoPS before the 5 pm deadline. Stay tuned for all the latest details.