Tony DeAngelo doesn’t regret how he capped off his frustrating Sunday afternoon at TD Garden.
DeAngelo was on the ice when the Boston Bruins were about to put a bow on their Game 4 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. As Brad Marchand put himself in position to bury an empty netter, the hot-headed defenseman threw his stick in the direction of the B’s star.
As he met with the media Monday, DeAngelo was reminded that he’s not allowed to throw his stick during an active play. The 26-year-old blueliner unsurprisingly doesn’t care that he didn’t act in accordance with the NHL rulebook.
“Yeah, is that right? It’s going to be a goal anyways, so it counts,” DeAngelo told reporters, per team-provided video. “I’d rather knock off the puck. If it knocks off his stick, it’s going to count as a goal anyways. So, would you rather see it go in the net or go wide? It is what it is. It doesn’t bother me very much that I can’t do it.”
In fairness to DeAngelo, he shouldn’t care about the stick-throwing incident. The referees didn’t penalize him for it, and no one on the Hurricanes should be dwelling on their shortcomings in the Bruins’ series-tying win.
All of Carolina’s focus should be on Tuesday night’s tilt at PNC Arena. If the Metropolitan Division champions aren’t able to protect home ice in Game 5, their season very well could come to an end Thursday night in Boston.
NESN’s complete coverage of Bruins-Hurricanes Game 5 will begin at 6 p.m. ET.
