The NHL has handed a $25,000 fine to the Ottawa Senators for unsportsmanlike conduct during warmups

According to NHL Insider Darren Dreger, the Ottawa Senators were beinvestigated for an incident before the Battle of Ontario last night.

The incident would occur before the game, when players were taking warmups, and the heated rivalry never stops.

Even before the game, players have to find creative ways of letting loose their aggression.

Instead of doing it responsibly, forward Nick Cousins took his aggression out on Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz, whom he shot a puck toward during warm-ups.

NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman gave us a better look at the incident, while mentioning that the league doesn't play around with shenanigans that occur during pre-game. Mark Scheifele and Joel Hofer's incident gives us some precedent on the matter.

This might be a form of retaliation for Stolarz for slashing Ridley Greig during game 2. But, the tensions seem to be escalating either way as this Atlantic Division rivalry never settles down, even during the regular season.

The NHL has fined the Ottawa Senators $25,000 for these pre game antics, and another fine to Nick Cousins.