The Boston Bruins have not been given many breaks in their playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and that theme continued early on in Game 5 on Saturday.
Roughly halfway through the first period, Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman was called for a holding penalty when he dragged Brad Marchand to the ice with a free hand. Marchand immediately looked to the official to make sure it was a penalty, and he ended up getting a penalty of his own for embellishment — a dive, in other words.
This is the worst call in the history of hockey pic.twitter.com/K78BqTgAB1
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) May 6, 2018
Marchand may have sold the play a little, but it certainly didn’t look like he did enough to warrant being called for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Of course, Bruins fans will tell you poor calls have become a pattern in their team’s series against Tampa. There have been a number of questionable whistles that haven’t gone in Boston’s favor, but perhaps Marchand has lost the benefit of the doubt since he won’t stop licking opponents.
