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No punishment for Bruins’ Marchand, who doesn’t ‘regret’ cheap shot

Boston Bruins star-miscreant Brad Marchand isn’t expected to face supplemental discipline for his very Brad Marchand sucker-punch of Blue Jackets defenseman Scott Harrington, according to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline.

If you’re hoping that Marchand might have “learned” something from this experience, well, you haven’t been paying much attention, have you?

Marchand admitted to The Boston Globe’s Matt Porter that his punch to the back of Harrington’s head (while Harrington’s back was turned, and he was off his feet), was “unnecessary,” ... but Marchand also said that he doesn’t regret doing it, explaining it away as “playoff hockey.” Then cue some whataboutism, in regard to Columbus apparently roughing up Jake DeBrusk.

To Harrington’s credit, he’s not throwing gas on the fire. Instead, he called it a “hockey play” and emphasized that the Blue Jackets are moving on, as NBC Sports Boston’s Joe Haggerty reports. (This article has even more on Harrington brushing it off.)

Allowing Marchand to be his own worst enemy?

You may chalk this up as “living well is the best revenge.”

The Blue Jackets have won two consecutive games to snare a 2-1 series lead against the Bruins in Round 2, including Tuesday’s strong Game 2 effort.

Bottling up Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak has been a big part of Columbus’ success. Marchand specifically is on a four-game pointless streak, stretching back to Game 7 of Round 1 against the Maple Leafs, and he must be getting frustrated being that he’s failed to score a goal despite generating nine shots on goal against Sergei Bobrovsky over three games.

While going without a point, Marchand’s taken two penalties, and both resulted in power-play goals for the Blue Jackets. Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports that the Bruins are planning on having a talk with Marchand about discipline.

Honestly, it’s hard not to chuckle at the thought of the Bruins having what must be the billionth “talk” with Marchand about his antics.

Years ago, even stretching back to the later days of the Peter Chiarelli era in 2014, there were rumblings about Marchand being traded, in large part because of his sometimes self-destructive tendencies. Marchand’s ascent from a very good player to a full-fledged superstar has been aided by a better balance of scoring versus shenanigans, yet it sure seems like it’s too much to argue that he’s fully reformed.

(Granted, his playoff lick count appears to be at zero, unless we’ve missed some sneaky snacking.)

All things considered, the Blue Jackets are being pretty smart here. Sure, some of John Tortorella’s no-comment approach is to avoid fines for officiating, but if this side stuff gets Marchand off of his game and into the penalty box, that could be the sort of factor that helps Columbus win a Round 2 series that’s been very extremely close so far.

In other words, the Blue Jackets may profit off of a “don’t feed the troll” approach.

Teaching moment

Onlookers have been quick to voice their disapproval, however.

USA Today’s Kevin Allen believes that a suspension is warranted, considering Marchand’s history. Even those who argue that it wasn’t suspension-worthy also called it “greasy” or even “a greasy rat play.”

The “it is what it is” feeling spreads when you realize that sneaky punches do happen quite often during these scuffles. The Blue Jackets experienced this before when Steven Stamkos snuck a shot in on Nick Foligno (note Foligno’s death stare), and plenty was made of Zdeno Chara landing a punch on John Tavares.

“These things happen” makes it tough to suspend Marchand, yet maybe this moment could inspire some broader change? What if the NHL decides during the off-season to ramp up punishments for these types of moments, particularly involving punches to the head, especially as we gain more awareness of the dangers of head injuries? Would other players - not just recidivists like Marchand - really take the chance to throw unnecessary punches like those if there was a more credible threat of a suspension?
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Whether he’s getting under the Blue Jackets’ skin, scoring goals, or having a meltdown while failing to accomplish either task, it should be fascinating to watch Marchand in Game 4 and as this series goes along. Just don’t expect some big change of heart from one of the most prolific pests of the playoffs.

Game 4 goes at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday on NBCSN (Stream live).

James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.