There are often little interactions which take place between play of hockey games, but Boston Bruins player Shawn Thornton tried to pull a little “gamesmanship” from the bench during live play on Saturday. The Bruins were facing off against the Montreal Canadiens in Game 5 of their playoff series.
As Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban picked up the puck skating by the Bruins’ bench, Thornton gave him a little squirt of water to the face from the Gatorade bottle he was holding. Play was stopped on an offsides right after the incident, and Subban immediately took issue with Thornton over on the Bruin’s bench, then to the referee. You can watch the entire incident in the video below. The confrontation begins around the 20 second mark.
CBS Sports is now reporting that the NHL has fined Boston Bruins player Shawn Thornton a total of $2,820.52 for the incident. The offense is officially listed as unsportsmanlike conduct. As you can see in the video, Thornton found the whole ordeal pretty entertaining during the game, but the guy had to do something to keep himself interested. He only had 6:44 of ice time for the Bruins in Game 5, and has been used sparingly throughout the playoffs. The NHL says that the fine levied is the maximum allowable under the current collective bargaining agreement.
Said Subban to reporters after the game:
“I don’t know if it’s part of the game, but I’m sure if that was me who did it, it would be a different story. It’d probably be on the news for three days.”
What Thornton did manage to do for the Bruins was get under the skin of Subban, who has been a force against the Bruins throughout the series. Minutes before getting squirted with water, Subban had scored a monster goal, so he is a marked man in the eyes of the entire Bruins team.
The series between the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens was tied up at two games a piece going into Saturday’s Game 5. The Bruins scored in the first period, and never gave up the lead despite a valiant effort by Montreal. Boston added two more goals in the second, and a fourth in the third, giving them a 4-2 victory, and a one game advantage in the NHL East playoff series.
The two teams will meet again on Monday night in Montreal, and the Bruins have a chance to put the series away on their opponent’s home ice.
