While his team found a way to win against the Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy wasn’t in a celebratory mood when discussing Brad Marchand‘s injury.
Capitals forward Garnet Hathaway knocked Marchand out of the game in the second period with a hit along the boards on Thursday. Hathaway was assessed a minor penalty for interference on the play while Marchand was forced to leave the game with an upper-body injury.
“You hate to see Marchy go down on such a cheap hit. That’s hockey some nights,” Cassidy told reporters after his team’s 4-3 win.
The Bruins head coach also voiced his displeasure with the fact that Hathaway caught Marchand on the numbers with the hit and that his forward was in a vulnerable spot.
“That Marchand one I didn’t like at all. The official was right there in front of it and didn’t call it. The trail official called it. I’m not sure why the guy watching it didn’t,” Cassidy said. “(Hathaway) hit a guy in the numbers in a vulnerable spot. We’ve seen that from that player in the past, too. I didn’t like that one at all.
“The league may or may not look at it when it comes with Marchy sometimes they kind of move on but in this particular case, it seemed like a vulnerable spot against the boards. Hopefully, Marchand is okay. Tough job for the officials to call those quickly like that, but that one I didn’t particularly like.”
Marchand is expected to get re-assessed on Friday to determine the extent of his injury. The 33-year-old has 20 goals and 43 points in 31 games this season.
Marchand wasn’t the only forward to leave the game as Boston’s Anton Blidh was knocked out after a hit by Tom Wilson.
While many Bruins fans were upset about the hit, Cassidy didn’t think there was an issue.
“On the Blidh one, he came into the middle of the ice and saw him at the last minute. Wilson hits hard. We’ve seen that. Some clean, others not clean. I didn’t mind that hit,” Cassidy said. “I thought he went for the chest. I thought he kept his elbows down. From my vantage point, I didn’t see anything other than a hard hit that you obviously wish Anton had just caught him into his view maybe a half-second early so that he can protect himself.”
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