BOSTON — Brad Marchand is suffering an upper-body injury after a collision with Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett in Game 3 that the Boston Bruins said may have crossed the line.
The Bruins captain’s status for Game 4 on Sunday is uncertain. He did not practice with the team on Saturday. Marchand is the Bruins’ leading scorer in the playoffs with 10 points in 10 games (3 goals, 7 assists).
The Panthers lead the series 2-1 after a 6-2 win at Boston on Friday night.
Some on social media said slow-motion replays showed Bennett using his right glove to make contact with Marchand’s head when the Boston winger went for a check. Former NHL goaltender Andrew Raycroft, who covers the Bruins for NESN, called it “a sucker punch, not a reverse hit.”
A source told ESPN that the NHL Player Safety Department will not discipline Bennett for the game, which did not receive a penalty from on-ice officials.
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery did not see the incident in real time, but said, “(After watching the replay), there’s a history there with Bennett. He’s a good, tough player, but there’s clear evidence of what happened.” “People may say it was not done intentionally. We have our own view on this.”
Montgomery said the history with Bennett isn’t specifically with Marchand, but with delivering that kind of blow on previous hits.
For example, in the Panthers’ series against the Toronto Maple Leafs last season, Bennett’s right glove touched forward Matthew Nease’s face before Bennett knocked Nease to the ice. Nese was hurt during the game, and some said Bennett threw a sneaky punch at the Toronto rookie.
Florida coach Paul Morrissey said he did not believe Bennett punched Marchand.
“No, and I don’t think most of you did,” he said Saturday. “It was just a bump. In an ideal world, everyone on every team is healthy. Nobody likes to see him get hurt.”
Bennett returned to the Florida lineup for the first time since Game 2 of the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He played 12:43 minutes and assisted on Vladimir Tarasenko’s power-play goal that gave the Panthers a 2–0 lead.
Panthers winger Carter Verhaeghe said, “He hits hard. He’s thick and a really tough guy. He knows how to time it.” “It’s a huge skill how to hit hits like that on time and get guys like that. There’s very few guys like him in the league who can do that and have the skill set that he has “
Marchand skated eight shifts in the first period and seven shifts in the second period, accumulating 10:51 total ice time before the departure. He recorded no shots on goal and attempted one shot.
Boston center Charlie Coyle said, “You never want somebody to go down and not be able to come back, especially a guy who’s your leader and your best player. But this is an opportunity for guys to step up and we can do that.” Are.” , who noted that the Maple Leafs rallied against the Bruins in the first round after losing star Auston Matthews to an upper-body injury.
“I think you’ll see people taking on more responsibility and rising to the occasion,” Coyle said. “We want to play for the guys that are out of the lineup and we want them to be there. We play for each other, and that’s something we’re going to do (Sunday).”
