In the first period of the 5-1 San Jose win at Staples Center, Brown leaned into Logan Couture with a helmet-to-face hit that bloodied the Sharks’ center.
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What did you think of Couture’s hit (how low can you go?) – did it warrant a few attention from the officials as Lucic said?
And just prior to impact, Lucic picked Couture up on his radar screen.
Instead, the National Hockey League Department of Player Safety punted on this one and let Brown slide by with another brutal hit. No penalty was called on the play, and according to Couture, the referees told him they didn’t have a good angle on the neutral zone collision. But he thinks it’s more than just his actions that earned him a match penalty and ejection from the game – it’s his reputation.
“As I said last night, I didn’t cross any line”, Lucic said, echoing his postgame statements. Lucic said the comment was relayed to him before Thursday morning’s practice. “If I would have made that hit and someone came after me the same way, he wouldn’t have got a match”. “It’s just because of who I am”. It’s like anything, like a schoolyard or anything, you’ve got to stand up for yourself when the time is right. That’s a dumb comment on his part. “I get hit as much as I hit. If this was 10 years ago, and a play like that happens and it was 5-1, it would be a lot messier”.
We won’t have to wait long for the next installment – the Sharks host the Kings on October. 22.
“I didn’t like the play”.
Match penalties are issued to “any player who deliberately attempts to injure or who deliberately injures an opponent in any manner”. “I didn’t appreciate the play”, Lucic said.
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My point is this; if players are going to stop overtime breakaways by committing infractions that produce or deserve penalty shots, the overtime format that is supposed to prevent shootouts could become its own version of the shootout.
