Brad Marchand hasn’t always been one to make friends with opponents.
For much of his career, the Boston Bruins winger has toed the line of playing with an edge versus getting out of control, and such was the case Tuesday night.
In the B’s 2-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs second round, Marchand turned a few heads at the final horn. Marchand skated up to unsuspecting Blue Jackets defenseman Scott Harrington, who was on all fours in the crease, and threw a little jab at the back of his head before skating away. Columbus captain Nick Foligno tried to approach Marchand, but was held back by Patrice Bergeron.
The league elected not to discipline Marchand for the punch, but the winger still addressed what he called an “unnecessary” move.
“I guess because of having to talk about it today, it’s not something I’d go back to do it again,” Marchand said. “But stuff like that just happens in hockey. You watch the play there and Jake (DeBrusk) took about six punches from two guys. It is what it is.
“They’re letting teams play and that’s playoff hockey,” Marchand added. “It’s the way it should be played. They’re letting a lot go. And that’s how it should be this time of year. They let us battle it out. Each team gets one or two penalties a game, so they’re doing a good job and not dictating games based on special teams, they’re making us battle 5-on-5 and that’s how playoff hockey should be. I’m not concerned about that.
“I’ll try to stay within the rules and they’re going to call the game the way they see fit. That’s playoff hockey.”
You can watch Marchand’s full comments here.
