Brad Marchand, the Boston Bruins‘ leading scorer, has been offered an in-person hearing via Zoom for roughing and high-sticking Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry during Tuesday’s game.
The hearing will take place Wednesday night.
Following a scrum in the final minute of play, Marchand punched Jarry in the head with his right fist. Then, while a linesman attempted to restrain him, Marchand skated by Jarry and struck him in the mask with his stick.
Marchand was assessed a match penalty, which is handed out when officials deem there is an intent to injure and triggers an automatic suspension, pending review by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.
“I don’t know, that happened quick,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said about the situation. “Honestly, lack of discipline, obviously, on Brad’s part in that situation…I just watched the replay at the end, it looks like some words were exchanged. I don’t know if there was an incident in the second period that precipitated it. I wasn’t in the room, I don’t know. Someone said that.
“Still, gotta have better discipline at the end of the day. Brad’s a leader on the team and he needs to control his emotions in that situation.”
Earlier in the game, Marchand hit the puck off of Jarry’s stick as he was trying to give the puck to a Penguins fan in the crowd. Jarry appeared to say something to Marchand as both teams skated off the ice.
When asked about the incident with Marchand, the Penguins goaltender didn’t make much of it.
“I think it was the heat of the moment. Everyone is battling out there, and he was just trying to get the puck to the net, and our team did a great job,” Jarry said.
At his best, Marchand makes his impact on the ice in the liminal space between agitation and box score production. It’s a narrow line to straddle, one that can quickly deviate into reckless behaviour — sometimes with consequences that extend beyond a shift being good or bad.
That dynamic has led to him being no stranger to sanctions from the league. Most recently, in November, he was suspended three games for slewfooting. That suspension marked the seventh of his career.
COMMENTS
When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.