Brad Marchand continues to push things to the limit, but it looks like he’ll again escape without supplemental discipline after another tripping incident.
Marchand tripped Tampa Bay defenseman Anton Stralman from behind in the second period of Boston’s 4-3 win over the Bolts at Amalie Arena on Tuesday night, a play that wasn’t penalized. It didn’t appear to be exactly like the “dangerous tripping” play on Niklas Kronwall that got Marchand fined $10,000 by the NHL Player Safety Department, and that was the view of the league as well, according to a tweet from Hockey Night in Canada analyst/host Elliotte Friedman on Wednesday morning.
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/826792812763037696
Reviews of the video showed Marchand’s eyes watching the puck as he moved toward that area, and the two player’s legs were tangled with Stralman hitting the deck as he was skating backward.
There was no injury to Stralman on the play, and he actually took a penalty right after the play perhaps in frustration with what Marchand, the renowned pest, had just done to him. So once again the B’s left winger avoids the long arm of the NHL law, but he’s playing with fire as he continues to go after opponent’s legs in a way that’s going to land him in trouble.