After Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau made some complaints about Madison Square Garden, in addition to accusing the New York Rangers of gunning for Mike Green, Rangers coach John Tortorella had a simple response.
Tortorella said Boudreau needs to stop whining.
"We have confidence in the league. We have confidence in the officials that they won't be influenced by all the whining going on here right now," Tortorella said, according to ESPN.com. "We're staying away from it. And we're focused on what we need to do. We have confidence in the league that this doesn’t affect the series. This is a pretty good series, two pretty good teams going at it pretty hard."
Boudreau made the claim on Monday while on 105.9 The Edge's Kirk and Mike Show, a day after the Rangers beat the Capitals to cut the series' lead in half. Washington holds a 2-1 edge in the quarterfinal series heading into Game 4 on Wednesday night.
Boudreau's concern is related to Rangers defenseman Marc Staal hitting Green in the back of the head during Game 3. Green had previously missed over a month of play during the regular season due to a concussion.
"Staal comes in, there's no puck, he takes his arm, he swings it at his head, but it's all forgotten because we score a goal to tie the game up," Boudreau said. "It shouldn't be forgotten and it wasn't the only time they've targeted Mike's head,"
"[Green] took a high hit, they're coming after him," Boudreau continued."[Brandon] Prust left his feet in the first period and went at the head as well. And Mike threw a punch back at him when he was gone. But this is stuff, I have no problem with hitting, let's hit as hard as we can, that’s what this game is all about, but you cannot target the head."
Staal said he recalls the hit, but he hasn't seen any replays of the play to defend himself against Boudreau's accusations.
"I remember the play, I came across, he was cutting in the middle, and I tried to finish him, but I haven't seen it again," Staal said of the play.
Boudreau also sounded off about the state of the legendary Madison Square Garden, saying it may not be as great as people think.
"Well, the one thing, its reputation is far better than the actual building. I mean, it's nothing," the Caps' coach said. "The locker rooms are horrible. The benches are horrible. There's no room for anything. But the reputation of being in Madison Square Garden is what makes it famous. Also, our building's a lot louder, too. So I mean, they can say what they want, but it’s not that loud in there."
We'll see how loud Game 4 will be in MSG after hearing Boudreau's comments. The puck drops at 7 p.m.
