Florida Panthers forward Brad Marchand was ejected from the NHL playoff game series opener on Tuesday against the host Carolina Hurricanes after fighting with defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere.
While it was a relatively easy win for the Panthers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final, Marchand, ever the agitator, was mixed up with several Hurricanes through the night. In the third period, with the Panthers holding a 4-1 lead, Gostisbehere shot the puck from his own blue line, directly at Marchand.
That move set off Marchand and the two tussled, dragging each other to the ice before officials separated them.
After the referees conferred, both players were assessed roughing penalties, but Marchand was given a game misconduct penalty, which Marchand was none too pleased upon hearing.
Gostisbehere told reporters he was “pretty pissed off” after Marchand “tried to take a run at me.” He fully admitted he shot the puck at Marchand.
The Panthers had little to say about the incident after the game, publicly anyways. Forward A.J. Greer said he had “no comment” when he was asked about the incident by TNT.
“We’ll see next game, we’re just going to keep playing hard. You know, going to get on the forecheck … and play hard. It’s not an easy game, there’s going to be stuff going on in the playoffs. You can’t get too involved in it, you just got to get past it and on to the next one,” Greer said.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice was even more brief in his comments. Asked for his opinion on the sequence, Maurice said: “I’ve got one. I’ll be keeping that to myself.”
It’s not likely that Marchand will be disciplined by the NHL for his game misconduct penalty in Game 1. Panthers star Aleksander Barkov was taken out late in a game in the previous series by Maple Leafs forward Max Domi, a more egregious play than what seemed to happen between Marchand and Gostisbehere. Though all things may not necessarily be equal, there was no suspension for that play.
