The Bruins and Canadiens rivalry got back to a chippy level of play Wednesday night in Boston’s 4-1 win over the Habs, and now they’ve got the supplementary discipline to show for it.
Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara was slapped with the rare fine from the NHL Department of Player Safety for his cross-check to the face of 5-foot-9 Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher during an exchange between the two players in the second period. Chara was fined the maximum amount of $5,000 under terms of the collective bargaining agreement after both he and Gallagher were hit with matching penalties during the game. Gallagher went to the box for roughing and Chara for the cross-check in question.
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It was a notable exchange, to say the least, as Gallagher most definitely got the worst of it after catching a Chara stick to the chops, and the Bruins captain followed by mocking the Montreal forward for embellishing by snapping his head back. Replays of the exchange seemed to confirm that it most definitely wasn’t any kind of embellishment by the scrappy Gallagher.
The fine is also notable for the 42-year-old Bruins captain as he’s been able to largely avoid discipline since joining the Bruins, including no fine or suspension for his 2011 hit on then-Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty. The lone other piece of discipline for Chara was a one-game suspension all the way back in 2005 while with the Ottawa Senators for fighting LA Kings defenseman Tim Gleason in the final minutes of a game -- an amazing record of clean play over 20-plus years while playing an extremely physical style of play as the premier shutdown defenseman of his generation.