Marchand did not play in Game 4 after leaving Game 3 early with an upper-body injury

There has been quite a bit of discussion regarding Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett over the past couple of days.

Bennett played for the first time in over two weeks when he took the ice for Game 3 in Boston on Friday night.

He had been out after suffering an upper-body injury during Game 2 of Florida’s opening round series against Tampa Bay.

During the first period on Friday, Bennett checked Bruins forward Brad Marchand, sending the veteran Boston captain into the boards back-first.

In addition to the body contact, Bennett also appeared to catch Marchand in the side of the head with his glove.

An angle of the hit that emerged on Sunday showing Bennett clearly hitting Marchand in the side of the head. 

Marchand stayed in the game for a while but eventually left for good, being deemed day-to-day by Bruins Head Coach Jim Montgomery.

On Sunday, Montgomery ruled Marchand out of Game 4.

Bennett, meanwhile, scored the game-tying goal for Florida during the third period of Game 4 while laying out five hits and logging four shots on seven attempts in the win.

Afterward, Bennett was asked about the hit on Marchand and defended his actions.

“I was bracing myself for him coming to hit me,” Bennett said. “There’s no way I would’ve had time to think about punching him in the head.”

In the time between Game 3 and Game 4, the discussion about the play and whether or not it was intentional seemed to grow.

One of the loudest voices was Bruins Head Coach Jim Montgomery.

While there did seem to be some attention paid to Bennett by the Bruins early in Game 4 – with several big hits handed out by Boston players on a couple of Florida’s top forwards and Boston’s Pat Maroon appearing to challenge Bennett to a fight – the Panthers never took the bait and remained focused on the task at hand.

It paid off, as the Panthers are now heading back to South Florida with a chance to close out the Bruins in Game 5.

As for Bennett, he feels fine with how he handed the play and isn’t concerning himself with the way its being viewed on the outside.

“People can see it however they want,” Bennett said. “It’s playoff hockey. There’s gonna be hard plays. It’s unfortunate he got hit, but that’s just a hockey play in my mind.”

The Panthers will host Boston in Game 5 on Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise. Puck drops at 7 p.m. 

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