James Neal of the Nashville Predators breaks his stick as he attempts a shot past Connor Murphy of the Arizona Coyotes during the first period of the NHL game at Gila River Arena on December 11, 2014 in Glendale, Ariz.Getty Images
The NHL fined Nashville Predators forward James Neal $2,000 for diving on Wednesday, making him the first player to be fined under a new league initiative to crack down on embellishment.
Neal was assessed a two-minute minor penalty for embellishment at 19:39 of the third period of Nashville's 2-0 loss in San Jose on Saturday.
It was Neal's second citation for embellishment this season, which triggered the automatic fine.
Harsher penalties for diving were announced by the league in September, with the goal to cut down on what was identified as a league-wide problem at a general managers meeting in March.
Under the new rules, a player will receive a warning for his offence, be fined $2,000 for his second, $3,000 for his third, $4,000 for his fourth and $5,000 each for his fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth embellishment penalties.
His coach will also get fined: $2,000 for the player's fourth offence, $3,000 for his fifth, $4,000 for his sixth and $5,000 each for his seventh and eighth.