Boston Bruins: Kevan Miller Hurt Following Ovechkin Boarding

The Boston Bruins took on the NHL’s top team on Saturday night in a losing effort. The Washington Capitals came into TD Garden with a record of 47-13-4, and the Bruins’ held their own for the majority of the game. The Bruins’ lost the game when Capitals’ defenseman Matt Niskanen scored the overtime winner, but they may have lost more earlier in the game when Alex Ovechkin drilled Kevan Miller into the boards in the second period.

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Kevan Miller was left laying on the ice for an extended period of time before finally getting up and immediately leaving down the Bruins’ tunnel. The scariest part of the situation was the fact that Miller was holding his already-surgically repaired shoulder throughout the entire process. Miller missed 41 games last season with a shoulder injury before finally getting season-ending injury to repair his ailing body part.

While Kevan Miller was writhing in pain on the ice, Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, among others on the ice all got involved in a scrum which eventually resulted in a two-minute roughing penalty being assessed to Brad Marchand who was accosting Alex Ovechkin directly.

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Alex Ovechkin was assessed a five-minute boarding major on the play, but the curious part was the fact that he wasn’t ejected. The TD Garden faithful let the referees know about their disagreement with the call, but the referees might not have made the wrong decision. According to Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe, per rule 41.5 of the NHL rulebook “a game misconduct for boarding comes ‘for a foul resulting in an injury to the face or head of an opponent.'”

It seems ridiculous that the NHL rule book doesn’t leave room for a misconduct on a play such as this one:

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After the game, Alex Ovechkin defended the hit by claiming it was “just a hockey play.” While Ovechkin believes the play wasn’t anything to fret about, Kevan Miller was in the hospital being further examined. The NHL Department of Player Safety is reviewing the hit, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that Ovechkin’s status in the NHL may have something to do with him remaining in the game, and potentially not receiving a suspension.

Claude Julien eluded to Ovechkin’s super star status when he said “If it’s anybody else (but Ovechkin) is it a game (misconduct)?”. The NHL puts the discretion into the hands of the referees, but it’s a fair speculation by the Bruins’ head coach.

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Kevan Miller has played in 58 of the Bruins’ 66 games this season with mixed results in each game. Miller’s game has improved dramatically as of late, however, and he has been skating alongside captain Zdeno Chara on the Bruins’ top defensive pairing.