The Bruins and the Maple Leafs combined for 45 hits, 98 penalty minutes and three fights in the Bruins' 6-3 win at TD Garden on Saturday.
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy wasn't pleased about the hit.
“I thought it was late, I thought it was unnecessary,” said Cassidy. “If the league takes a look at it, I guess I don’t know if they will or not. Usually they do on those if there’s a major [penalty> involved. ... But again it’s one of those things, you’re at a point of the game and there hasn’t been a lot of body checking from their team, all of a sudden there’s a late, blind, unsuspecting one, it just annoys you.”
Hyman was given a game misconduct and the NHL Department of Player Safety was reportedly reviewing the hit.
Cassidy wondered if McAvoy was a target because he was coming back from a concussion.
“Especially it was Charlie who’s just coming back, so you wonder: are they targeting him or not? You don’t know that. I’d like to think it was just a guy playing hard and got there late and didn’t pull up, but our guys responded well.”
Will McAvoy be able to play against Ottawa on Sunday?
“That was the league-mandated protocol, he got through it,” Cassidy said. “So I suppose until tomorrow comes and he wakes up we’re all going to be a little bit on pins and needles, but he was cleared to come back.”
The Bruins played the final 10:07 against Toronto with four defensemen because Matt Grzelcyk fought Hyman in retaliation for the hit and was assess a game misconduct. Boston was able to survive with two points but they can't afford to be without McAvoy for another extended period.
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