Despite Derek Stepan’s broken jaw and Brandon Prust’s two-game suspension, the former teammates revealed there’s no bad blood after the New York Rangers eliminated the Montreal Canadiens Thursday night.
Stepan was forced to miss Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final after Prust delivered a late, jaw-breaking hit to the Rangers forward. Prust was suspended two games, making his return Thursday in what would be the final game of the series.
The two friends put all of that aside after the well-fought battle that was Game 6, hugging it out during the post-game handshake – a tradition that caused a tiny bit of controversy for the Habs and Bruins after the second round came to an end.
“I’m not going to hold that against him,” Stepan told reporters after Game 6. “He finished his check. He feels bad about it. He knows it was late. And we move on from there.”
Prust expressed regret about the hit following Game 3 and said he sent a text to Stepan after hearing about the injury.
“Once I found out he had a broken jaw, I reached out to him,” Prust said. “I told him I feel awful. I didn’t want to injury anybody, especially a friend of mine.”
Stepan and the rest of the Rangers await the winner of the Western Conference final and will kick off the Stanley Cup Final against either the Los Angeles Kings or Chicago Blackhawks on June 4.
