Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett was the ultimate villain in the club’s series against the Boston Bruins. Bennett notably injured Brad Marchand with a sucker punch in Game 3, which forced the Bruins captain to miss Games 4 and 5. NHL Player Safety did not give Bennett any discipline on the play.
Now, in the Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers, Bennett is starting to create more debate amongst hockey fans. In Game 2, Bennett threw a knee-on-knee hit on Oilers star defenseman Evan Bouchard. While the hit was far from clean, he only received a two-minute minor for tripping on the play.
Oilers forward Warren Foegele, on the other hand, received a five-minute major and game misconduct for kneeing Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen a few minutes later in the first period. Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch expressed frustration after the game, noting that he didn’t see any difference with Bennett’s hit.
Regardless, Bennett’s hit was certainly questionable. It will be interesting to see what kind of chippiness we see from Bennett and the other players in the Stanley Cup Final in Game 3.
