Patrice Bergeron was fighting mad Monday night, which is something you just don’t see every day. The Bruins forward was fired up about what he perceived to be a slew-foot from Carolina’s Jeff Skinner.
Bergeron went after Skinner in the waning seconds of the B’s 5-3 win over the Hurricanes, attempting to get a piece of Skinner, before the two players were separated by officials. Bergeron was upset that the hit came late and behind the play, while Brad Marchand had no problem criticizing Skinner for what he said was a slew-foot.
Skinner is now defending himself, though, saying that he and Bergeron just got tripped up.
“I don’t think that’s what happened,” Skinner said, according to the Raleigh News and Observer. “I think [Bergeron] stepped in front of me and we both feel back. I looked at the tape and my hips were open. I don’t know how you can pull somebody over your back leg when your hips are open. I think my left foot was off the ice there and we were both off-balance. We got tangled up.”
According to the News and Observer, Skinner said Tuesday that he watched tape of the play six times.
“We got tangled up,” he added. “I don’t know what else to say. He puts his stick across my body and latches on to me and we both fell backward. I really don’t know what I’m supposed to do in that situation.”
See video of the play in question below, with a stick tap to Pro Hockey Talk for passing this along.
