Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy wasn't shy in his criticism of the officiating in Boston's game five loss to the Islanders on Monday night, and the league has already handed down a punishment.
The NHL announced Tuesday morning that Cassidy has been fined $25,000 for "public comments critical to the officiating," after Cassidy ripped into what he believed to be an inconsistency in penalty calls between his group and New York's.
"You've got continuous high sticks every game, the exact same high sticks, Bergy with Nelson behind the net, the one that comes up on Smith, Marchy got called for that in game one," Cassidy said. "I can go on and on…maybe we need to sell them more and flop, but that's not us."
The Islanders had four power plays on Monday, and scored on three of them. One of those penalties was a delay of game on the Bruins after Patrice Bergeron sent the puck into the stands on a clear attempt, but the penalties cost Boston heavily in a 5-4 defeat. On the other side, the Bruins drew two penalty calls in what has been a very physical series so far.
"We're playing a team that has a very respected management and coaching staff that's won a Stanley Cup, but I think they sell a narrative over there that it's more like the New York Saints, not the New York Islanders," Cassidy said. "They play hard and they play the right way, but I feel we're the same way, and the calls, the exact calls that get called on us do not get called on them, and I don't know why."
Cassidy told reporters that he thought the Islanders were selling penalty calls and deceiving the officials, though New York was the least penalized team in the league this season.
"They've done a great job selling that narrative that they're clean," Cassidy said. "They play hard, a hard brand of hockey. I love the way they play. They commit as many infractions as we do, trust me."
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