Joseph sends Krejci head first into the boards and draws a crowd.

Everyone was expecting a meaningless game between the Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning to be treated as such but someone forget to inform the two National Hockey League teams that were out on the ice. 

In today's early game the Bruins and the Lightning faced off in a battle between two Eastern Conference juggernauts and in spite of the fact that there was nothing but pride and bragging rights on the line, the Bruins and Lightning both came to play. As a result this game very much had a playoff atmosphere with things remaining close in spite of the fact that the Bruins appeared to take a strong early lead. The Lightning however were undaunted by the Bruins early onslaught and not only did they rally, but it appears as though they were looking to send a message as well.

After his team had already rallied back in the second period from the initial 2 goal deficit they gave up in the previous period, Tampa Bay Lightning rookie forward Mathieu Joseph brought the body as well. Joseph laid into Boston Bruins veteran forward David Krejci with a big body check that caught the unsuspecting Krejci completely off guard. As a result Krejci fell awkwardly and would go crashing head first into the boards in very dangerous fashion. Luckily Krejci would quickly bounce back to his feet, seemingly an indication that he was not too shaken up by the hit from Joseph.

The hit itself appeared to be a good one from Joseph. Krejci was unable to gain control of the puck and was indeed staring at his feet when the contact from Joseph was made but the Lightning rookie appeared to avoid making contact with Krejci's head in spite of that. I think you would be hard pressed to argue that this hit from Joseph is one that warrants supplemental discipline.

The hit would draw a crowd however with Boston Bruins star forward David Pastrnak taking exception to the rough treatment of one of the Bruins most respected veterans. Pastrnak, in spite of in no way being an enforcer type of player, immediately went after Joseph although nothing but a big scrum between the two teams would come of that exchange. 

[pub]