Brad Marchand has been offered an in-person hearing (via Zoom) with NHL Player Safety for roughing and high-sticking against Pittsburgh Penguins‘ goaltender Tristan Jarry.
The date and time of that meeting is yet to be announced. Because it’s in-person, any suspension levied could be five games or more. Marchand was already banned three games this season for slew footing Oliver Ekman-Larsson and has been suspended seven times total in his career.
The incident in question occurred during Tuesday’s game between Boston and Pittsburgh. The Bruins were trailing by two with less than a minute to play in regulation, and Jarry had just smothered a puck. Marchand was in the vicinity, and after it appeared Jarry said something to Marchand, the Bruins’ winger took a swing at him.
Marchand’s punch unsurprisingly drew several of Jarry’s teammates into the fray. Linesman Andrew Smith was also involved and tried to get Marchand off the ice and away from Jarry, but Marchand escaped Smith long enough to hit Jarry’s mask with his stick.
The dust-up earned Marchand a five-minute match penalty for attempt to injure, and a two-minute call for roughing. Since the melee took place in the game’s final minute, it was automatically subject to NHL review.
Bruins’ coach Bruce Cassidy said he watched a replay after the game of what happened and saw an obvious “lack of discipline” on Marchand’s part in the moment, but that also something had clearly sparked his anger toward Jarry.
“It looked like some words were exchanged,” Cassidy said. “I don’t know if there was an incident at the end of the second period that precipitated it. I was in the room, so I don’t know. Someone said that. Still, you’ve got to have better discipline at the end of the day. Brad’s a leader on our team. He needs to control his emotions in that situation.”
If Jarry was bothered by Marchand’s behavior, he didn’t let on during a post-game press conference that downplayed the incident.
“I think it’s just the heat of the moment,” Jarry said. “Everyone’s battling hard out there, and he’s just trying to get the puck to the net…it’s part of the game, and [what happened] stays on the ice.”
Marchand leads the Bruins in scoring this season with 21 goals and 49 points. Losing him under any circumstance would be a blow, but especially now when the Bruins are also dealing with an upper-body injury to captain Patrice Bergeron, suffered in that same Tuesday game. Bergeron will miss Boston’s tilt against Carolina on Wednesday and there is no timetable on a return.