Milan Lucic Talks About The B's Physical Play On Gresh & Zolak
BOSTON (CBS) - Over the weekend, the Boston Bruins dispatched the Panthers 4-1 in Florida as they continued their five-game road trip.
The Bruins went 4-1 on the trip, but something in that Sunday afternoon tilt against the Panthers made forward Milan Lucic pretty upset.
Lucic was cross-checked from behind by Panthers defenseman Mike Weaver, sending him head-first into the boards. The refs missed it (or chose not to call it), and Lucic took matters into his own hands. He let Weaver know he didn't appreciate the hit with a cross-check of his own, and got a few jabs in when Weaver fell to the ice.
While there was no penalty on Weaver, Lucic received two-minutes for cross checking and another two minutes for roughing. He let the refs knew they missed the call on his way to the box, and was then slapped with a 10-minute game misconduct.
The Bruins killed off the penalties, but Lucic said it was pretty clear the officials missed one.
"Obviously it wasn't a fair play. I even watched the video and I don't see how (a penalty) wasn't called," Lucic told 98.5 The Sports Hub's Gresh & Zolak. "Looking back, it is what it is. I reacted the way that I did and I felt there was nothing wrong with the way I reacted. Anyone in my case would have been upset as well."
Though he wanted to get his point across -- to both Weaver and the officials -- Lucic knew not to take it too far or his teammates would be the ones paying the consequences.
"If you do that too much, if you cross the line you risk suspension and you really put your team down. That's what crossed my mind when I retaliated; I didn't want to cross the line and risk suspension," he said. "So I tried to do something where I was going to get a penalty but I wanted to make sure he knew I didn't like what he did to me."
"As far as the non-call, it is what it is," said Lucic. "Referees make mistakes like everyone makes mistakes. They're a big part of the game, and as players we have to work with them instead of against them."
"But I'm going to play my game. If I don't like something I'm going to react," he said.
Because of that, it's not hard to see why some teams fear playing the physical Bruins. And while their physical play may have the referees calling games a little different, the Bruins won't shy away from it.
"We have a big strong team, and we're going to play the way we play because it's successful," said Lucic. "If -- that's if --we do get singled out on penalties, our PK has done a good job, especially this year. We play good, hard-nosed hockey and do our best to stay in the rules. It's a physical sport and no one says you can't be physical."
"It's proven that it works, and it works for us, so that's the way we're going to play."
Also, how happy is Lucic to have Nathan Horton skating next to him again this season? And does Dougie Hamilton really not know who "The Muppets" are? Find out as Milan Lucic joins Gresh & Zolak:
