What are smoking? Lets say it was 100% accidental. A cross check to the head is not a minor penalty.
b) A major plus a game misconduct penalty shall be assessed to any player who injures an opponent as a result of cross-checking.
Here's the actual rules:
59.2 Minor Penalty - A minor penalty, at the discretion of the Referee
based on the severity of the contact, shall be imposed on a player
who “cross checks” an opponent.
59.3 Major Penalty - A major penalty, at the discretion of the Referee
based on the severity of the contact, shall be imposed on a player
who “cross checks” an opponent
59.4 Match Penalty – The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a match
penalty if, in his judgment, the player attempted to or deliberately
injured his opponent by cross-checking.
59.5 Game Misconduct Penalty - When a major penalty is assessed for
cross-checking, an automatic game misconduct penalty shall be
imposed on the offending player
I guess you missed the discretion part. If the ref determines that the cross check is accidental, he would hand out a minor based on the rules. In this case the ref decided that it was a major so an automatic misconduct was handed out. If he decided it was a minor, he is still able to hand out a match penalty if he thinks the hit is malicious.