NHL not suspending Flyers’ Emery for instigating fight with Capitals’ Holtby

Flyers goaltender Ray Emery will not be suspended for instigating a fight with Braden Holtby of the Capitals because there’s nothing in the rule book the NHL can use as precedent, says a source with knowledge of the situation.

Emery skated the length of the ice and fought an unwilling Holtby during the third period of the Flyers’ 7-0 loss Friday night in Philadelphia. He was given 29 penalty minutes, including a game misconduct.

But Emery did not face even a disciplinary hearing with NHL senior vice president of player safety Brendan Shanahan because rules 46.2 and 46.17 limit punishments for instigators. Rule 46.2 covers the punishment he received during the game and 46.17 states that a player “deemed to be the aggressor” for the third time in a season gets a two-game suspension.

Apart from that, there is nothing that can be pointed to for supplemental discipline.

NHL general managers meet Nov. 12 in Toronto but it’s unclear whether they will discuss amending rules for specific cases like goalie fights.