Recently acquired B’s defenseman John-Michael Liles will have a disciplinary hearing for his hit on Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov from Tuesday night, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety has announced.
The incident occurred early in Boston’s eventual 1-0 win. Liles wasn’t penalized on the play and Kucherov, while briefly shaken, did remain in the game and finished with over 16 minutes of ice time.
Following the contest, Liles addressed the hit.
“I didn’t think I came up high with it. I thought I just tried to step into him. I don’t know if he was falling or if he ducked. Obviously he was down for a while. I didn’t see a replay on it so I’m not really sure,” said Liles, per CSNNE.com.
“I’m not trying to hit him up high. Most guys, I can’t even reach their heads. Just trying to do my job at the blue line, to step up and just get a piece of him. I didn’t think my elbow came up high at all.”