NHL levels Marchand
5-game suspension for repeat offender
The NHL Department of Player Safety last night suspended Bruins All-Star left winger Brad Marchand five games for delivering an elbow to the head of Devils forward Marcus Johansson in Tuesday night’s 3-2 victory against New Jersey at the Garden.
Marchand and Johansson were in a race for the puck that was loose in front of the Devils crease late in the third period. Marchand had the inside position and threw a lunging elbow that caught Johansson flush in the side of the head just under the helmet flap. Johansson was injured on the play and was forced to leave the game.
The league released a video to explain the rationale behind its hefty penalty. A B’s spokesman said the suspension would not prevent Marchand from playing in Sunday’s All-Star Game in Tampa.
According to the NHL: “It is Marchand who initiates contact on this play. This is not a defen- sive maneuver made for Marchand’s protection. Marchand lunges both up and into Johansson while swinging his elbow forward through Johansson’s head. This is an offensive, not a defensive, maneuver and cannot be excused as accidental or defensive contact. To summarize, this is elbowing. Marchand is a repeat offender under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement and has been suspended five times and fined three times previously in his 572game NHL career.”
Marchand missed a total of 14 games as the result of his previous five suspensions. The most recent suspension came April 4 of last season when he was disciplined two games for spearing Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Jake Dotchin.
Coach Bruce Cassidy backed Marchand’s contention that he was making a defensive maneuver. Cassidy added Marchand has been the victim of several unpunished cheap shots.
“I don’t want to put too much of an opinion on it because we are not supposed to, to be quite honest,” Cassidy said following practice yesterday at Warrior Ice Arena. “I thought that he took some severe hits in vulnerable spots. Brad puts himself in harm’s way because he has the puck so often, and he is a top-end player for us, so he is going to take hits. He will have to protect himself in those situations, and I believe he did that last (Tuesday) night.”
The suspension comes with the Bruins riding a 17game points streak heading into tonight’s clash with the Senators in Ottawa. Marchand is the B’s leading scorer with 21 goals and 29 assists. He is a staggering plus-24.
Anders Bjork, who played in 28 games for the Bruins earlier this season, is expected to be called up from Providence of the AHL to replace Marchand on the first line with Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak.
Frank Vatrano is another option, but he likely will be placed on the fourth line if Noel Acciari is unavailable. Acciari was excused from practice yesterday because of a lower-body injury.
Cassidy would prefer not to break up his bottom three lines but does have that option. Danton Heinen, who is tied for fourth among NHL rookies in scoring with 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists), could be moved up from the third line, and he feels he can skate with any center on the roster.
“Earlier in the year with all the injuries when I came up (from the AHL), the lines were all over the place,” Heinen said. “At the start of the year, we all kind of started playing with different guys.”