P.K. Subban draws backlash over cheap shots on Brandon Hagel.

It hasn't been a particularly good season in the National Hockey League for veteran defenseman P.K. Subban as far as his play is concerned but it has also been a pretty ugly season for him when it comes to his reputation in the eyes of many fans around the league. Subban has seemingly been involved in a higher than usual amount of controversial incidents this season and on Friday night we were witness to yet another one when the New Jersey Devils defenseman let his emotions get the best of him. 

Subban and the Devils suffered a loss at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night in what was a high scoring affair with 13 goals split between the two squads, but it was Subban's behavior In the final 30 seconds of that contest that have seemingly garnered the most attention.

The Blackhawks were up 7 - 5 with only seconds remaining on the game clock in the game's third and final period and as is common in these situations the Devils yanked their goalie in favor of putting an extra skater out on the ice. Blackhawks forward Brandon Hagel would make them pay for that decision however when he managed to break loose and put the game out of reach, scoring the Blackhawks' 8th and final goal of the game with just 27 seconds left in the game.

As Hagel was breaking towards the net however he was tripped by Subban, who he had zoomed past, and based on the video evidence it very much looked intentional. Now a tripping call wouldn't be the end of the world, but Subban seemingly wasn't done there and had a few more cheap shots up his sleeve.

The trip resulted in a scrum between the players on the ice but the officials quickly calmed everyone down and put a stop to those shenanigans, everyone except Subban it seems. While Hagel, who understandably wasn't pleased about being tripped after he literally crashed into the net, was being restrained by an on-ice official Subban began raining down punches on the young Blackhawks forward who could not defend himself while being held back.

As I said Subban has made himself the subject of controversy quite a few times this season, including a number of slew-footing incidents that have resulted in fines and even a season ending injury to Rangers forward Sammy Blais, and this certainly won't do anything to diminish the criticism he has been facing from segments of the NHL's fan base.

Here's the replay: