Matthew Tkachuk could face suspension after dirty cross check after period ends

The Florida Panthers and the Boston Bruins are playing Game 4 of their first round series at the FLA Live Arena this afternoon.

Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk is well known to toe the line with his agitative style of play. During the first period of play Tkachuk loses his head, cross-checking Bruins forward Garnet Hathaway in the ribs. Hathaway went down, and stayed down. Where Tkachuk hit there is very little protection.

A scrum ensued around Hathaway with pushing and shoving as he remained injured on the ice. Tkachuk received a 2 minute penalty on the play.




A very dirty play by Tkachuk, but after seeing this guys handy work the last seven seasons nobody should be surprised.

Hathaway returned to the game with the score 2-1 Bruins in the second period. The NHL Department of Player Safety is likely to review this play as it meets most of the criteria for a suspension. The play happened after the final whistle, Hathway had no reason to expect this sort of hit and no way to defend himself.

With the Panthers now down in the series 3-1 losing Tkachuk could be a real issue.