Patrick Marleau drills Bryan Rust with hit to the head (Video)
Bryan Rust, who opened the scoring in Game 1 of the 2016 Stanley Cup Final, left the game in the third period after he was hit in the head by Patrick Marleau of the San Jose Sharks.
With the score tied at two, Rust carried the puck into the Sharks zone and attempted to dump it behind the San Jose defense. As he finished his unsuccessful attempt, Marleau came skating over and delivered a shoulder to the Pittsburgh Penguins forward’s jaw.
Here are two angles via @MyRegularFace:
Marleau was given a minor for a hit to the head, a power play the Sharks ended up killing. Rust would go to the Penguins dressing room for a few minutes, but returned minutes later only to leave again.
Marleau didn’t think his hit warranted further punishment. “I don’t think so. I kept my shoulder in and elbow in and everything in,” he said.
Afterward, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan says Rust is “day-to-day” with an upper-body. “It’s a blindside hit to the head,” he said. “He gets a penalty. I’m sure the league will look at it.”
Does Marleau have any supplemental discipline coming his way? Considering he was penalized for the hit and Rust came back for the rest of the game, and taking into account how some more controversial hits in these playoffs have resulted in no punishment, the Sharks shouldn’t be worried about losing the forward for Game 2.
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