After the first two games of the second round series between the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres were relatively free of extracurricular activities, that changed drastically in Game 3 when the bad blood between these two teams finally spilled over.
There were several alterations throughout the game this time around, but it would be in the late stages of the game's third period that two players may have very well landed themselves in some trouble with the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety.
Unfortunately for the Buffalo Sabres the more clear cut of these two examples was a sucker punch, or series of sucker punches, on the part of Sabres forward Josh Norris. Norris would deliver several unanswered punches to Canadiens forward Zachary Bolduc, but the issue here was that Bolduc was already completely tied up by another member of the Sabres.
You can see the replay here:
This very much mirrors the incident we saw involving Ottawa Senators forward Ridley Greig when he delivered similar blows to Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Sean Walker in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Greig received a two game suspension for his actions in that incident leading to many, many, calls on social media for Norris to also be suspended.
The other player who may be getting a call from Player Safety would be Canadiens enforcer Arber Xhekaj, who delivered some stiff punches of his own late in the third period. Xhekaj's blows came as part of a larger scrum where blows were being thrown by multiple players, but the cameras were focused right in on Xhekaj when he landed what looked to be a devastating 1-2 combination to the face/head of Sabres forward Sam Carrick.
Carrick immediately crumpled to the ice after eating the second of the two punches, and Xhekaj could not help but look incredibly guilty as he was left standing alone with Carrick crumpled down on the ice.
Should NHL Player Safety get involved in either of these incidents? Do either of them warrant a suspension during the playoffs? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
