The Boston Bruins were hosting the Vegas Golden Knights at TD Garden on Monday night when Boston forward Matthew Poitras carried the puck up the right wing boards in front of the benches, 2:49 into the second period. Vegas winger Braeden Bowman caught him high.
Poitras went down. Blood poured from his nose onto the ice, and he skated straight for the tunnel without waiting for anybody. Officials reviewed it and gave Bowman a five-minute major for elbowing plus a game misconduct, the first ejection of his career. Boston scored on the resulting power play to lead 2-0.
Poitras came back to the bench later wearing a full face shield with gauze stuffed up his nose. He never took another shift.
Monday night at TD Garden:
| Category | Detail |
|---|---|
| Final score | Boston 3-2 (shootout) |
| Bowman’s penalty | 5-minute major, game misconduct |
| Poitras’ shifts after returning | 0 |
Will Braeden Bowman be suspended?
The Department of Player Safety hasn’t said anything yet, and the reaction to the hit suggests the answer may be less obvious than the blood on the ice makes it look. A substantial number of people watching came away thinking the elbow wasn’t the problem.
“I have trouble seeing this as a bad elbow. It’s late, the puck is long gone, but the elbow is about as tucked as it gets and it’s unfortunate contact. Could almost call it interference as much as elbowing,” one wrote.
“The penalty is deserved, but some of that is just on Poitras changing his body position to avoid being hammered against the boards,” said another.
“I don’t think it was dirty. Bowman led with his hip and Poitras dropped his head. At some point, players have to be responsible for getting themselves in a bad situation and trying for a reverse hit,” a third argued.
“Shocked that people are calling this malicious, blatant, dirty,” somebody else added. “This would’ve been shoulder to shoulder, but Poitras drops his hip and faces Bowman’s elbow.”
There was a backdrop to it. Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy had been given an interference minor in the first period for a hit that put Vegas rookie Trevor Connelly into the boards, and Bowman was among the Golden Knights who pinned McAvoy against the glass while Connelly was treated.
Bruins coach Marco Sturm had no update on Poitras afterwards. Vegas rallied from two down to force a shootout, where David Pastrnak settled it for Boston in the third round. The Knights have now lost five of six.
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