Wild’s Ryan Hartman suspended three games for hurling stick toward officials after game ended

The Wild’s pointless loss in overtime to Vegas last Saturday keeps getting costlier.

Ryan Hartman was suspended three games on Monday for unsportsmanlike conduct after throwing his stick in the direction of officials while the Golden Knights celebrated their 2-1 victory at Xcel Energy Center.

Because Vegas scored into an empty net in overtime after the Wild pulled their goalie to gain an extra attacker, the Wild forfeited the point they previously earned for being tied at the end of regulation.

In its explanation of the suspension, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety pointed out that Hartman was into the tunnel before returning to the bench and throwing his stick on the ice while berating the referees, which is why he was given a 10-minute misconduct for abusive language at the conclusion of the game.

The Department of Player Safety described the stick throw as intentional, deliberate and solely because of frustration.

Near the end of regulation, Hartman was high-sticked by the Golden Knights’ Noah Hanifin, but Hanifin wasn’t penalized.

“It’s obviously a situation you’d like to see the call there,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “But the call wasn’t made, so there’s nothing we can do about that.”

Hartman’s argument was that he wasn’t trying to hurt or hit anyone with his stick, according to the league, but he acknowledged that his actions were unprofessional and unacceptable.

This is the fourth suspension in Hartman’s 574-game NHL career, and being a repeat offender was taken into consideration.

Earlier this season, the 29-year-old center was suspended two games for tripping Detroit’s Alex DeBrincat on Nov. 26. He’s also been fined seven times, including for high-sticking Winnipeg’s Cole Perfetti on Dec. 31.

With this latest punishment, Hartman will lose $62,195.13 in salary, which goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

He’ll be eligible to return Sunday at Chicago when the Wild kick off a five-game road trip. Hartman has 19 goals and 23 assists in 68 games along with 72 penalty minutes after posting 90 last season and 95 the season before that.

“He’s done a good job personally as a player to control himself and make sure that he’s not putting himself or the team in disadvantaged situations from penalties, so credit to him for that,” Hynes said. “It’s something that we’ve talked about, and he’s taken action as the player.

“But moving forward … I think if you have a track record, it’s harder sometimes maybe to get some calls. I don’t know because I’m not a referee, but I think it’s something that we’ll continue to work with and talk with Hartzy.”

Adam Beckman skated as the extra forward at practice Monday, so he could slot into the lineup Tuesday vs. Ottawa in Hartman’s absence.

Marcus Foligno didn’t practice after missing the past two games, and Hynes didn’t have an update on the winger, who’s been dealing with a nagging groin injury.

“There’s still some evaluations to be made,” Hynes said.

But Hartman’s suspension hasn’t been the only fallout from the Wild’s unusual outcome against Vegas.

Later Saturday, St. Louis and Los Angeles lost, meaning the Wild could have inched closer to their competition in the Western Conference wild-card race even if they added a single point.

Instead, they blew a chance to shrink some of their deficit, which has been difficult to do despite the team winning seven of its past 12 games and banking a point in three others.

“We’ve played some really good hockey, and we’ve gotten points in a lot of games,” Hynes said. “Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to make up some ground, but we’re going to stay on it. We know what the situation is, but I think you gotta go and attack. You gotta be aggressive. We gotta continue to put heat on some teams. We want to continue to win games. We want to continue to play well at home.

“A lot of it is mindset of how we’re going to go about our business, and we’re not going to go about our business passively.”