Brad Marchand has largely been on his best behavior (relatively speaking, at least) up to this point in the postseason.
That changed Tuesday night in Game 3 of the Boston Bruins’ second-round Stanley Cup playoff series with the Columbus Blue Jackets when Marchand skated up behind Blue Jackets defenseman Scott Harrington and delivered a quick jab to the back of his head before skating away from the scene.
Since it was Marchand, who has a checkered history for plays that cross the line, there was no shortage of uproar and indignation over the play which went uncalled on the ice. However, according to multiple reports, the NHL won’t discipline the Bruins winger for the incident, meaning he’ll be on the ice for a pivotal Game 4 on Thursday in Columbus.
#NHL has reviewed #NHLBruins Brad Marchand incident at final buzzer on Tuesday. Expectation is that no supplemental discipline is coming from the league. #CBJ
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) May 1, 2019
NHL will not be adding any Supp. Discipline for Brad Marchand after last night. But rest assured, the Bruins will deal with his antics, just as they did with the licking episodes during the 2018 playoffs. This will be dealt with internally. #StanleyCupPlayoffs
— John Shannon (@JShannonhl) May 1, 2019
Regardless of the NHL’s ruling, the Bruins certainly should hope Marchand uses this as a second chance and gets his actual play back in line. Dating back to the first round, Marchand now has been held scoreless in four straight games for the first time in more than three years. If he and the rest of the Bruins’ first line don’t get going, Boston — which now trails Columbus 2-1 in the best-of-seven series — could be headed for an early exit.
