Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand has received a three-game suspension for slew-footing Vancouver Canucks defenseman Oilver Ekman-Larsson. The incident occurred in the first period of Sunday’s game, which resulted in a 3-2 Bruins win.
Marchand didn’t receive a penalty and Ekman-Larsson wasn’t injured on the play. The Bruins winger will be eligible to return to the team on Dec. 8 when the Bruins take on the Canucks, interestingly enough.
“I thought it was two guys battling for a puck, got tangled up,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said after Sunday’s game. “They’ll have to decide. You see a lot of those in a game, they’re typically along the boards more often than in the open ice, but I’ve seen a lot of it this year.”
This three-game ban marks the seventh suspension of Marchand’s NHL career. The Bruins forward was last suspended in January 2018 for five games for elbowing New Jersey Devils forward Marcus Johansson. In addition, Marchand was suspended for slew-footing in January 2015.
According to the NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, Marchand will be forced to surrender $91,875 from his salary. That will go toward the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund and is a sum of Marchand’s average salary of $6.125 million.
