As Blackhawks forward Marcus Kruger recovers from a concussion sustained Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, his teammates were still commending John Scott for coming to his aid.
Instigation penalty be damned.
It was frustrating when the Blackhawks ended up on the short side of the special teams when Scott got an instigation penalty for his fight with Penguins defenseman Deryk Engelland on Tuesday. Engelland will have a hearing for his high hit on Kruger on Thursday morning.
But a day later, after the Blackhawks got scored on during that kill, they were still more than fine with Scotts actions.
Every guy in that locker room stood up for what John did yesterday. We all approved it and we moved on after that, captain Jonathan Toews said. We want to look at that penalty we didnt kill, but thats a team penalty well take any time. Hes standing up for his teammate. We didnt get that kill, but that wont change anything.
The instigator is there to keep players from fighting just for fightings sake. But it sometimes keeps players from policing themselves, which is what Scott was doing last night for Kruger.
Yes, the Blackhawks paid an immediate price for Scotts fight but theyre happy with the message that was sent. The NHLs concussion problem continues to growTSN.ca said Wednesday that more than 30 players are known to have a concussion right now.
NHL
Maybe the messages need to be allowed without penalty.
Thats why theres been fighting in hockey for a long time, Toews said. Guys arent going to do stupid things like (the hit on Kruger) if theyre going to have to answer the bell.