Two days after delivering the “Hit Heard ‘Round the World” on Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand, Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett finally spoke on his Gam 3 action.
Before the start of a pivotal Game 4 that Florida won to go 3-1 up on Boston in their second-round series, the crew from TNT interviewed Bennett and Paul Bissonnette asked him to share his side of the Marchand story on May 12.
Sam Bennett shares his side of the Marchand hit AND the game-tying goal with the @NHL_On_TNT boys 🗣️
“People can have their opinions,” Bennett said. “I know it definitely wasn’t intentional. By no means was that an intentional punch in the face.
“I braced myself for him coming to hit me. There’s no way I would have time to think about punching him in the head.
“People can see it however they want. It’s playoff hockey, there’s going to be hard plays. Obviously, it’s unfortunate he got hit, but that’s just a hockey play in my mind.”
The Bruins ruled out Marchand for Game 4 with an “upper-body injury” after he didn’t skate in an optional practice earlier on Sunday, May 12. The Panthers beat Boston 3-2 in Game 4 with the Bruins captain sidelined.
Sam Bennett ‘Protected Himself’ From Marchand’s Hit
As Bennett told the TNT analysts before Game 4, he didn’t mean to hurt Marchand with his hit and he denied punching the Bruins captain at all.
TNT, however, aired an alternate angle of the hit unseen before Sunday that revealed there was, in fact, a punch delivered by Bennett to the head of a defenseless Marchand.
This alternate angle of the Bennett hit on Marchand from Game 3 😳 @NHL_on_TNT
Bissonnette tried to understand Bennett’s action and to help viewers do so by asking the Panthers forward if he was attempting a “reverse hit.” That would have allowed Bennett to protect himself from a hit, according to Bissonnette.
“Exactly, that’s exactly it,” Bennett answered to Bissonnette. “He’s coming at me. Normally, I’m going to go with two hands to protect myself. Coming back from an injury, I’m going to protect myself however I can.
“That’s really all there is to it, and like I said, it’s unfortunate he got injured on it.”
Sam Bennett went down the tunnel with an apparent hand injury.
Bennett was referencing the injury he suffered in Game 2 of the first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 24. Teammate Brandon Montour attempted a shot and the puck deflected off Bennett’s left hand.
The Panthers forward missed all games played by Florida between April 24 and May 10 when he returned for Game 3 against the Boston Bruins last Friday, delivering the hit on Marchand.
Sam Bennett Heard the Criticism & Embraced the Villain Role
Bennett has been the main character of the main storyline emerging from the Stanley Cup playoffs midway through the second round following his sucker punch on Marchand.
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery was the first to bring the punch to the table ahead of Game 4. Then, Panthers coach Paul Maurice gave a one-word answer to Montgomery’s comments.
On Sunday, May 12, ahead of Game 4, Bennett opened up about everything that had been said during the past few hours about him and his hit on Marchand, and he sounded happy embracing a villainous role and being public enemy No. 1 in Boston.
“Yeah, I mean, I got a little taste of it last year in Toronto, and, you know, I guess I’m getting kind of used to it,” Bennett told the TNT crew.
the overhead view of the Bennett-Knies drop looks so much worse
Last season, Bennett hit Toronto’s Matthew Knies in the playoffs delivering a similar shot to the face with his right hand, which led to Bruins’ Montgomery saying there’s “history” with Bennett’s actions on May 11.
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Sam Bennett Opens Up on Brad Marchand: ‘He’s Coming to Hit Me’