The NHL has told Brad Marchand to stop licking opponents or the Boston Bruins forward will face punishment.
Senior vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell spoke to Marchand and Bruins general manager Don Sweeney on Saturday about Marchand’s actions against Tampa Bay a night earlier. Marchand licked Lightning forward Ryan Callahan on the face during Game 4 of their second-round series after appearing to do the same to Toronto’s Leo Komarov earlier in the playoffs.
The league says Marchand has been put on notice that his actions are unacceptable and that similar behavior in the future will be dealt with through supplemental discipline. He could be fined or suspended by the NHL if he continues to lick players.
”All I’m going to say is there is absolutely no place in our game for that Authentic Chukwuma Okorafor Jersey ,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. ”I don’t get it, I don’t understand it. How would you feel if I walked over to you right now and gave you one big lick? Right from the chin all the way up. There’s just no place in the game for that.”
After the game, an overtime loss that put Boston down 3-1 in the series, Marchand said Callahan punched him in the face four times.
”He just kept getting close,” Marchand said. ”Nothing big.”
Told that Callahan compared licking to spitting and said it should be penalized accordingly, Marchand said: ”That’s cute. Good for him.”
Marchand’s antics were the talk of rinks on Saturday. Penguins forward Tom Kuhnhackl said it was impossible to avoid hearing about Marchand licking Callahan because it was all over social media.
When asked if one benefit of wearing a full face shield was protection from being licked, Pittsburgh’s Carl Hagelin said: `I’m not going to answer that. Funny question, though.”
Some Winnipeg players watched the game while in Nashville and had a variety of reactions. Jets forward Adam Lowry said he probably would’ve punched Marchand – the kind of response the known instigator likely was looking for – while coach Paul Maurice said, ”It gives me the willies.”
”It’s a play I’ve never seen happen before in hockey,” Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey said. ”That’s the thing in the playoffs. Crazy stuff goes on and you have to keep a level head.”
Predators players talked among themselves about Marchand, asking each other what they would do in that situation.
”It would kind of be funny, but in the moment it probably wouldn’t be very funny,” defenseman P.K. Subban. ”I’m sure looking back you’re like, `I got licked in a hockey game.’ It’s just weird, you know?”
For all the trash-talking http://www.raidersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-nick-nelson-jersey , pushing and shoving that goes on in hockey, especially with the Stanley Cup as the ultimate prize, the line is usually drawn at spitting. Licking is just as unsanitary and, to most players, unwelcome.
”It’s like spitting on someone. It’s extremely disrespectful,” Lowry said. ”You got to respect your opponents. I get playing hard in a series and there might be some dislike between guys, but there’s a certain line that shouldn’t be crossed and that’s one of them.”
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AP Sports Writers Teresa M. Walker in Nashville, Tennessee, and Jimmy Golen in Boston contributed to this report.
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TORONTO — The Toronto Raptors appeared to have control of their first-round series against Washington Wizards when they won the first two games.
They also thought they had Game 4 within their grasp, and yet the series is tied 2-2.
The pressure will be on the No. 1 Eastern Conference seed when they host the No. 8 seed Wizards in Game 5 of the best-of-seven series at the Air Canada Centre.
“I feel like both teams protected home court, now it’s the best-of-three,” Wizards guard John Wall said. “Somebody is going to have to win on the opponent’s court to win. We have a good opportunity to go there with some momentum, going into Game 5, and we want to take full advantage and try to get that win.”
It could have been different. With just under five minutes to play in Game 4 at Washington on Sunday, Wizards guard Bradley Beal fouled out. He had scored 31 points in 32 minutes.
The Wizards did not fold Authentic Martin Fehervary Jersey , however, but the Raptors did. With Wall leading the way, the Wizards went on to defeat the Raptors 106-98 to even the series.
“This one was tougher, because I thought we had it under control,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said.
Wall had 27 points, 14 assists and six rebounds in playing 43 minutes on Sunday.
After dropping the first two games in Toronto, Washington won both games at home, including a 122-103 decision in Game 3.
The Raptors led by 14 points during the third quarter on Sunday, but the score was tied at 92 when Beal fouled out.
The Raptors, who used their full bench successfully during the season, have started to again rely heavily on their All-Star guards DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry.
DeRozan had 35 points, six rebounds and six assists Sunday, but also committed four of Toronto’s 19 turnovers (the Wizards made 13 turnovers) in 38 minutes. He also made some ill-advised shots down the stretch and was willing to shoulder his share of the blame.
“I blame myself for a lot of mistakes, for a lot of forced shots late in the game,” DeRozan said. “Mental mistakes Authentic Customized 49ers Jerseys , turnovers, late-game execution, stabbing in the backcourt in transition late in the game. A lot of things.”
Reserve guard Delon Wright continued on that theme.
“I just think we have to make that adjustment to realize that they’re not blitzing (DeRozan) as much anymore, they’re playing more single coverage,” said Wright, who passed up a couple of 3-pointers.
“Shoot it, man,” DeRozan said. “Every one of my teammates, I don’t care if they miss 20 shots in a row, if you get a shot, shoot it. That’s the confidence we’ve had in one another all year.”
Lowry also saw considerable playing time, playing 39 minutes and had 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
A key player off the bench for the Raptors all season has been point guard Fred VanVleet, who has played only 2:49 in the series because of a sore right shoulder and is listed as doubtful for Game 5.
The Wizards, meanwhile John Ross Youth Jersey , have been dealing with adversity all season with Wall limited to 41 starts because of a sprained left shoulder and surgery on his left knee. The Wizards were 2-2 against the Raptors during the season even though Wall missed all four games.
“You have to have resolve to win in this league,” Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. “We’ve had some tough moments this year with John missing half the season, but we found it, and it put us in a position to make the playoffs through resolve. You win playoff games, and you win playoff series with having that. We have that, and we have to continue to have that because we have to win two more games, and one of them has to be on the road.”
The Raptors will be trying to avoid making as many turnovers. Another veteran, forward Serge Ibaka, also made four turnovers Sunday.
“Some of it is Washington’s good defense and some of it is just taking out a gun, pointing it at your foot and shooting ourselves in the foot,” Casey said. “A lot of it was uncharacteristic. But it just didn’t start in Game 3. We had some of the same turnovers the first two games, but we were able to score and have a cushion and live through it. We have to take care of the basketball. Make sure we get quality shots.”
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