And found that his punch shouldn't have been penalized. I assume that the fact he'd already sat out roughly 1/2 a game, and that the hit didn't connect both played into their determination. I don't think they ever said it wasn't a punch - just that he shouldn't be penalized.
Whatever we want to call it, he violently extended his arm, with a closed hand (fist), in the direction of an opposing player. Arguing about whether or not it was a punch is ridiculous. It's a semantics game, like when a kid argues that they didn't hit their brother - their brother ran into their outstretched hand.