Bruins forward Brad Marchand has been suspended five games for clipping Vancouver defenseman Sami Salo in Boston on Saturday.
Marchand will forfeit approximately $150,000 in salary.
In describing the play, NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan said Marchand “drops down dangerously low into Salo’s knee area” rather than making shoulder-to-shoulder contact.
Shanahan did not view Marchand’s actions as “defensive or instinctive,” calling the clip a “predatory low hit delivered intentionally” to a player that was “not coming at Marchand with great speed nor in a threatening posture.”
The NHL also took into account that Salo suffered a concussion on the play and that Marchand is a repeat offender, having been suspended last March for elbowing RJ Umberger.
Here’s the full explanation: