Devils’ Sheldon Keefe fined $25K for unprofessional conduct directed at officials

Sheldon Keefe’s wallet just took a hit.

The New Jersey Devils head coach was fined $25,000 for “unprofessional conduct directed at the officials” during Sunday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights, the league announced Wednesday.

The incident occurred at 18:12 of the third period and resulted in an unsportsmanlike conduct bench minor as well as a game misconduct for Keefe.

Keefe was upset with a no-call that resulted in Devils star forward Jack Hughes leaving the game injured.

Hughes left Sunday’s game after colliding with Jack Eichel and crashing hard into the boards.

With the Devils killing a penalty while down 2-0, Hughes broke out on a two-on-one with Nico Hischier handling the puck. As Hischier shot on net, a back-checking Eichel got his skates tangled with Hughes.

Both players crashed into the boards, but the Devils’ star appeared to bear the brunt of the collision. Eichel got up and immediately checked on his Team USA 4 Nations teammate, who skated off the ice hunched over but under his own power.

Hughes was called for interference 1:12 into the third period, which led to the Golden Knights’ first goal.

“I get kicked off the bench for telling the referee I felt that it was 10 times worse than the one that was previously called on Jack,” Keefe said.

Keefe is in his first season as head coach of the Devils after spending the previous five seasons as the bench boss of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Under Keefe’s guidance, the Devils have a 33-24-6 record and sit third in the Metropolitan Division.