Boston Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk struggled to leave the ice late in the first period of Game 2 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final after a hard hit by St. Louis Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist.
Sundqvist received a minor penalty, not a major, for the hit, and the Bruins weren’t able to capitalize on the power play opportunity.
After the Blues’ eventual 3-2 overtime win to tie the series 1-1, Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy noted that Grzelcyk went to a nearby hospital for observation, as Sportsnet’s John Shannon notes.
While some believe that the hit should draw a major penalty, it feels like a fair call. Some of this comes down to highly unfortunate luck, as Grzelcyk was in an awkward position right before Sundqvist delivered the check. Either way, it looks like Grzelcyk’s head hit the boards pretty hard as a result, so it remains to be seen if the blueliner can return to Game 2 (airing on NBCSN; stream here) or if he’ll even miss additional time during this series.
This wasn’t the only tough moment of the first period for Grzelcyk, as Robert Bortuzzo’s 1-1 goal deflected off of his stick and past Tuukka Rask.
There were a couple of stretches where it looked like the Bruins might start to run away with Game 2, yet the Blues have come back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to tie things up 2-2 heading into the second period. This should be an interesting contest, especially if the Bruins end up being limited to five defensemen.
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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.