Dustin Brown is fined but not suspended for illegal hit of Justin Schultz

Dustin Brown was fined $10,000 by the NHL for cross-checking Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Justin Schultz on Thursday night, but the Kings forward was not suspended.

The NHL’s Player Safety department announced the fine following a hearing with Brown on Friday, before the Kings played the Ducks at Honda Center.

Hearings typically result in a fine or a suspension. Brown was given the former, the most allowed under the Collective Bargaining Agreement. He was previously suspended for two games in 2013 for an illegal elbow to the head of Jason Pominville.

Brown was given a five-minute boarding major and a game misconduct for his third-period hit on Schultz, who was on his knees when Brown cross-checked him into the boards and knocked him onto the ice prone for several moments.

Brown said after the game that he went to “close in” on Schultz, who had stumbled, and didn’t think it was worthy of more than a two-minute minor penalty. Schultz told reporters afterward that he passed concussion protocol, but he was shocked at the play.

“I can’t believe he hit me like that,” Schultz said. “I’m on my knees. You saw it. Unreal.”

In a separate incident, Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin was fined $5,000 for spearing Brown in the first period. Brown appeared shaken up on the bench but returned to the game. No penalty was called on the play.