Brad Marchand’s point is simple: He and Anthony Duclair simply couldn’t avoid each other.
During the first period of the Boston Bruins’ 7-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday, Marchand began to turn and skate in the defensive zone toward his bench. At the same time, Blackhawks winger Anthony Duclair was coming across the ice. Marchand left his feet and threw his arms out to avoid Duclair, but neither could get out of the way fast enough.
Here’s a look at the collission:
Duclair suffered a knee injury on the play and reportedly will be out 1-2 weeks. Marchand was assessed an interference penalty for the play.
Here’s the B’s winger’s take on what happened:
Marchand won’t have a hearing for the hit, according to The Boston Herald’s Steve Conroy. However, during his postgame press conference, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy suspected it might be something the Department of Player Safety takes a look at.
“I expect they will because it’s Brad,” Cassidy said after the game. “But when I looked at the replay, it looked like two guys just turning trying to get the hell out of the way from each other, but it doesn’t matter, right? It’s what they’re going to see, and hopefully the referees, the officials — I just asked what the call was — interference.
“He said he got him high, and I said, well I thought he hurt his knee, like, so what is it? But, at the end of the day, I haven’t looked at it close enough. The brief replay I saw on the bench monitor, it just looked like incidental contact to me.”
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenville didn’t offer much more than that it was a tough call and the Bruins got a penalty for it. Chicago defenseman Erik Gustaffson was far more candid, however.
“Yeah, I think it was a dirty play,” Gustaffson said. “I think Marchand sees him coming and I don’t know how if he does it on purpose or not, but he gets stuck and Duclair gets stuck, got his feet stuck in the ice. It looked pretty bad. I haven’t talked to him yet. He is a good player and I hope he is back soon.”
Marchand was suspended five games earlier this season for elbowing New Jersey Devils forward Marcus Johansson.
