[UPDATE: The NHL suspended Marchand three games for slew-footing Ekman-Larsson.]
Brad Marchand will be speaking to the NHL Department of Player Safety following his slew-foot on Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
Early in the first period of Boston’s 3-2 win over Vancouver on Sunday Marchand and Ekman-Larsson battled for a puck as it entered the Canucks’ zone. While trying to win position, the Bruins forward upended the defender, dropping him to the ice.
Marchand was not penalized on the play. He would score the tying goal in the third period and later setup David Pastrnak’s winner with 3:24 to play. It was Ekman-Larsson who was in the penalty box for Pastrnak’s goal after he was penalized for boarding Anton Blidh.
According to NHL Rule 52.1, slew-footing is “the act of a player using his leg or foot to knock or kick an opponent’s feet from under him, or pushes an opponent’s upper body backward with an arm or elbow, and at the same time with a forward motion of his leg, knocks or kicks the opponent’s feet from under him, causing him to fall violently to the ice.”
Marchand was suspended two games in 2015 for slew-footing then-Rangers forward Derick Brassard.
Busy weekend for Marchand
Sunday’s actions came two days after Marchand’s tiff with Rangers forward Artemi Panarin during New York’s 5-2 win. Panarin said that the Bruins forward hurled Russia-based insults at him, which caused the Rangers star to throw his glove at Marchand.
Panarin was fined $5,000 by the NHL for the glove toss.
The NHL has only punished two players this season for actions where the league has used “slew-foot” in its description. Wild forward Ryan Hartman was fined $4,250(The maximum allowable under the CBA) and Kevin Labanc of the Sharks was suspended one game. Several players have been fined for “tripping,” including Ryan Getzlaf and P.K. Subban, who was dinged twice in the span of a week.
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.