You punish the action because even if everybody got lucky and they walked away scot-free, the next time might not be so lucky and someone could be severely injured. This isn't a difficult concept but this is a result that goes against the Leafs so I'm not surprised this thread is about 50/50 in opinions.
Like yes, results do matter to an extent, but in cases like this where the consequences could be catastrophic you go big in punishment the first time to dissuade it from happening again. Drunk driving doesn't always end in a crash, maiming, or death, but you take away a persons license and potentially prison time because if things go wrong the results can be catastrophic.