Habs defenseman lays out Eric Staal with huge, controversial hit
It is no secret that this has been a long season for the Montreal Canadiens - and last night, that continued. The Florida Panthers absolutely steamrolled the Habs by a score of 6-2. But unfortunately for one former Hab, the Canadiens were not steamrolled as a team, but Eric Staal was steamrolled individually as well.
Late in the first period, Staal was forechecking on Habs defensemen Mike Matheson. Matheson, knowing the forecheck was coming, pulled up and nailed Staal with an enormous reverse hit. The 38-year-old Staal went down on the ice hard. The hit can be seen below.
While reserve hitting is a legal maneuver, the issue here seems to be that the puck was still a few feet in front if Matheson. Staal was slow to get up after the hit, left the game and did not return.
While the Panthers may not like the hit, Head Coach Paul Maurice was a little gun shy when asked about it post game, as he was just fined for his negative comments towards the officiating of the Leafs/Panthers game Tuesday night. Maurice told reporters, with a smile, that he is off the commentary.
That said, the Panthers did exact some revenge on the Habs defensemen. Once the Florida took a 5-1 lead, Matthew Tkachuk dropped the gloves with Matheson in the third period.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 20 | 197 ANSWERS Habs defenseman lays out Eric Staal with huge, controversial hit Was this a dirty hit by Matheson on Staal? | ||
| Yes | 139 | 70.6 % |
| No | 58 | 29.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
