Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube isn’t a fan of Boston Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov’s hit on Auston Matthews.
During the second period, Zadorov hit Matthews, who went hard into the boards. It was a borderline hit, but no penalty was called.
Yet, after the game, Berube made it clear that he felt like it should have been a penalty against Zadorov.
“I think it is a penalty, personally, but I am not the referee,” Berube said postgame on Tuesday. “I don’t like it. I don’t like the hit. He was in a vulnerable position. There is nothing I can do about it.”
Matthews left the game and didn’t return, and Berube gave a bleak update on the Maple Leafs captain.
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“We’ll see tomorrow,” Berube added. “Right now, it is lower-body. We will just see tomorrow how he is. I don’t know exactly. I really can’t give you guys a timeline or tell you how serious it is right now. I am not sure when he got hurt, to be honest with you.”
Although Berube and the Maple Leafs weren’t happy with Zadorov’s hit, the Bruins defenseman didn’t feel like it was dirty.
“It was just a normal play,” Zadorov said. “I didn’t really hit him. I hit my right shoulder, 99 per cent of my hits in the NHL are with my right shoulder. There was really no intention to hurt him. I play hard against top players on the other team, that’s my job.”
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The Bruins ended up defeating the Maple Leafs 5-3 to extend their win streak to seven.
Boston will return to the ice on Thursday on the road against the Ottawa Senators.