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Watch Torey Krug crush Andrew Shaw with an open-ice hit
Monday's contest between bitter rivals in the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens was one of the more entertaining games of this young NHL season. There was intense action on both ends of the ice, some great highlights and late dramatics that led to overtime.
And, as always when these two teams meet, there was some nastiness.
Both the Bruins and Habs exchanged some big hits early on, but the most talked-about collision came when Boston defenseman Torey Krug absolutely leveled Montreal forward Andrew Shaw with an open-ice hit in the neutral zone. Both players were in pursuit of a loose puck around center ice when Krug threw a heavy shoulder into Shaw, who didn't appear to be expecting contact. As a result, the Canadiens grinder got the worst of the collision.
After the hit, there was a lot of discussion regarding whether it was legal or not. No penalty was called on the play, but many on the Montreal side felt that Krug should have been disciplined. Some argued it was interference, as Krug's hit came before Shaw could get his stick on the puck, and others just weren't comfortable with how much contact to Shaw's head there was on the play.
While there certainly was a good amount of contact with the head -- it may have even been the principle point of contact, though it's tough to tell depending on the different camera angles -- Shaw also put himself very low by leaning in with his head down towards the puck just before contact. It seems like it may have been tough for Krug to avoid all contact with the head in a quick, bang-bang play such as this one. (It's also worth noting that, at 5-foot-9, Krug stands shorter than Shaw, who is 5-foot-11.)
“I just went to grab the puck and thought he was going to hit me, so I just lowered the shoulder,” said Krug after the game, via CSNNE. “I was just going for the puck, and I assumed that Andrew Shaw was going to hit me. That’s about it. I saw him and I knew who it was, and I just assumed he was going to play the body because he’s a physical player.”
Other key factors working in Krug's favor are that he doesn't leave his feet or launch upward at all on the hit, so there doesn't appear to be intent to hit high. The elbow appears to be tucked at the side of Krug's body and the shoulder is what delivers the hit at the point of contact, though the elbow does come up in chicken wing style during the follow-through.
Shaw was a bit shaken up on the play and had some facial abrasions to show for it, but he eventually returned to the game.
The league has been trying to crack down on hits to the head recently, so the Department of Player Safety is going to look into the incident and decide if Krug should face a suspension as a result. Most hits involving contact to the head require a minimum of a two-game ban.
It'll be a tough call for the league, as this doesn't appear to be a cut and dried case. Even the coaches involved in Monday's night's tilt disagreed on the hit, with Boston's Claude Julien saying it was a "good hit" and Montreal's Michel Thierren said he didn't like the hit because "Shawsy was in a vulnerable position, and he got hit to the head."
So, regardless of what the league decides is the appropriate course of action, some people are going to be very unhappy with the end result.
