The Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning are heading back to Amalie Arena for Game 6 tomorrow night, as the Leafs were unable to deliver the knockout blow to the Bolts in last night’s Game 5 of their Round 1 Stanley Cup Playoffs series.
And as there has been throughout this series, there was some extreme animosity between the two sides that culminated in a melee on the ice. The latest example started as the seconds ticked down on the second period; Lightning forward Pat Maroon delivered a crushing hit on veteran defenseman Mark Giordano, who was clearly shaken up. Leafs players attempted to get at Maroon to avenge their teammate, and the former was more than willing to stand up for himself. However, the on-ice officials would have none of it.
By the time it was said and done, Giordano needed assistance back to the dressing room, while Maroon would be assessed a two-minute minor penalty for roughing. Giordano would later return to the game in the third period.
Not surprisingly, one figure who did not like the hit was Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe, who was already sour at Maroon for his rough play earlier in the series.
“In terms of the hit itself, anytime there’s hits in the numbers you’re concerned with it,” Keefe said. “There’s been a few of those from that player in particular in this series. When you see a player smash his head off the glass, that’s a tough look.”
However, the panel on TNT did not agree with Keefe, saying that his crushing check on the half wall was just a good example of tough playoff hockey.
”I don’t get it, I think it was a bad call,” Colby Armstrong exclaimed. ”What is going on?”
Paul Bissonnette, a noted Leafs fan who had drawn criticism for his openly rooting for the team earlier in the week, agreed with Armstrong.
”I thought it was soft,” he said of Maroon being called. “That’s playoff hockey through and through.”
”The ref’s right there! I don’t get it. It’s driving me nuts,” Armstrong said.
Which side are you on in this argument?
