A.J. Greer let his emotions get the better of him Thursday night in the first period of the Boston Bruins-Canadiens game.
Prior to a faceoff, Montreal forward Mike Hoffman took a hack at Greer's stick. Greer didn't like that and he delivered a cross-check to Hoffman that caught him in the chin. He immediately doubled over and went down the tunnel before the end of the period.
Greer, meanwhile, was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct. Nick Suzuki scored for the Habs on the power play, but at the end of the day the Bruins came away with a 4-2 win at TD Garden.
Still, the Stanley Cup playoffs are less than a month away and Greer has been one of the forwards head coach Jim Montgomery has healthy scratched due to the depth of the team. Boston can ill-afford to take a senseless penalty in the playoffs, and Montgomery revealed his feelings on the play after the game.
"We talked about playing with emotion, which is great, but not getting emotional," Montgomery told reporters. "Unfortunately ... that stick rode up. I don't know if it rode up the stick or the shoulder pad and it cut him. It's something we can learn from in the playoffs because you can't take those kinds of penalties in playoffs."
"Whenever I do talk to him, because we're going to be off (Friday), I'll talk to him about the necessity of controlling his emotions and that he needs to learn from it, that's all," he added, per the Bruins. "We're going to move past that."
Greer has a hearing Friday with the Department of Player Safety to determine if he'll receive any further discipline.
The Bruins return to action Saturday afternoon when they welcome the Tampa Bay Lightning to TD Garden. Puck drop is set for 1 p.m. ET on NESN.
