It's Actually Quite Shocking That More Guys Don't Try To Shoot The Puck Directly At Brad Marchand
Josh Lavallee. Getty Images.There are very few people in the world who have perfected the craft of annoying the shit out of your opponent quite like Brad Marchand. I'm not even just talking about hockey, either. We're talking any other sport, politics, the arts, whatever. Just in general, Brad Marchand is an all-time pest. He's been so effective at being a pest for so long, that it's almost like the mere existence of him being on the ice drives other players crazy. He barely even has to do anything anymore for guys to want to snap on him.
So we had a perfect display of Brad Marchand doing what Brad Marchand does best last night in game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final, when Shayne Gostisbehere had enough of the Rat and decided to send a shot right at him.
Shayne Gostisbehere is one of the most offensively gifted defensemen in hockey. He has complete and total control over the puck when it is on his stick. There's not a doubt in the world that he intentionally fired that one at Brad Marchand. And come to think of it…it's actually shocking this doesn't happen way more often.
If there are 700 some players in the NHL across the 31 other teams besides Florida, I'm sure at least 500 of them have had the intrusive thought to shoot a puck at Brad Marchand before. Shayne Gostisbehere let the intrusive thought win this time, but I can't believe he's the only one who ever wanted to do it. Playoffs are definitely a different beast. The Florida Panthers have shown over the years that anything goes in the playoffs. They're willing to do whatever it takes to win a series, even if that means crossing a few lines. I wouldn't necessarily consider it a "hockey play" by any stretch, but at least the Panthers are self-aware enough that they can't acted shocked when someone finally lashes out after some of the shit they pull.
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Panthers win 5-2. Clearly they are already in Carolina's head. And the Hurricanes have now lost 13 conference finals games in a row. Just a truly incredible streak that is equal parts impressive and pathetic.