BOSTON — It’s become pretty evident that Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic doesn’t see eye-to-eye with Montreal Canadiens defenseman Alexei Emelin. The two were at it again Monday night, and Lucic had a lot to say about it afterward.
Emelin caught Lucic with a hip check early in the first period of the Canadiens’ eventual 2-1 shootout win. The hit, which sent Lucic spilling through the neutral zone, wasn’t well-received by Bruins captain Zdeno Chara. He went after Emelin and ended up getting a roughing penalty.
Lucic responded with a verbal attack after the game.
“Whether it’s fair or legal or whatever you want to call it, if he wasn’t scared, he’d want to stand up and hit me and not go after my knees,” Lucic said. “It just shows how big of a chicken he is that he has to go down like that to take me down. It shows what kind of player he is. On my end, you know you need to keep your guard up at all times.”
Lucic and Emelin met again in the third period, when Lucic appeared to give Emelin a little bit of stickwork, perhaps even a spear. Lucic adamantly denied any wrongdoing there, though.
“I just skated by him, and that’s all,” Lucic said. “People are trying to say I speared him. I did not spear him, so that’s it.”
See Emelin’s hit on Lucic below.
