Marchand gets blown up by dirty hit and takes unsportsmanlike penalty for tantrum after

Brad Marchand was up to his usual act of being the loudest voice on the ice, but today the referees had heard enough.

Marchand took a brutal knee-on-knee hit from Flyers defenceman Erik Johnson and fell down to the ice hard, only to get trampled over by another Flyer. Marchand went down, either hurt or trying to draw a penalty, but soon got up and began absolutely giving it to the referees.


Slamming his stick multiple times, slamming the bench door shut, and screaming at the referees for more than a few minutes was enough for him to be assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Marchand is a player who can usually walk the line flawlessly without taking a penalty to harm his own team, but today he must have said something that crossed that line.



Honestly in this specific case, Marchand is completely right to be yelling about the missed call. Johnson's hit was direct knee on knee contact, the kind of hit that can end careers, especially now that Marchand is getting older now at 35. It's a deserved unsportsmanlike penalty for the tantrum, but Johnson should've absolutely been penalized for this hit, and the tantrum wouldn't have even happened.