Islanders' Capuano calls Boyle hit on Hickey a 'direct shot to the head'
After watching Brian Boyle score the overtime winner for the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 shortly after he crushed defenseman Thomas Hickey, New York Islanders head coach Jack Capuano said the hit should have been penalized.
Hickey nails Drouin...then Boyle nails Hickey and scores OT winner on same play. Questionable hit. pic.twitter.com/xFC8ud2sIG
— Pavel Barber (@HeyBarber) May 4, 2016
"It's a direct shot to the head," Capuano said postgame, according to Peter Botte of the New York Daily News. "Probably gonna be suspended for a game ... whole game shouldn't come down to that."
Boyle's hit came after Hickey took Tampa forward Jonathan Drouin out for an extended period of time with a punishing hit of his own earlier in the game.
Meanwhile, Lightning coach Jon Cooper wasn't too worried about his overtime hero facing any additional discipline:
Cooper on Boyle hit: "How many hits were in that game? 70? 80? There were 15 more hits in that game that were harder."
— Bryan Burns (@BBurnsNHL) May 4, 2016