NHL insider Bryan Hayes talked about Brad Marchand’s actions against Nick Cousins (Credits: IMAGN)

Boston Bruins winger Brad Marchand faced backlash after grabbing Ottawa Senators forward Nick Cousins by the throat on Thursday. The incident occurred early in the first period of Boston’s 2-0 win over the Senators. Marchand removed his glove and placed his bare hand around Cousins’ neck before grabbing his jersey. A linesman quickly intervened to stop the altercation.

On Friday, TSN analyst Bryan Hayes criticized the NHL for not punishing Marchand. Speaking with Gino Reda, Hayes called the act absurd and said it deserved at least a one-game suspension.

“They got this wrong, and I think it’s absurd…” Hayes said, “This has nothing to do with a hockey play.” [0:25]

Hayes explained that it was not part of the game and pointed to Marchand’s history of controversial actions, including licking opponents’ faces during the 2018 playoffs.

“Licking somebody on the ice—something he’s done before—there should have been some sort of penalty for that,” Hayes said, “And taking your glove off and grabbing someone by the throat—it’s absolutely absurd. It’s not a hockey play. There’s no explanation for it. And again, he has a history of doing this, so I have no idea why the league wouldn’t step in and say, “You’re getting a one-game suspension for utter stupidity.” [0:58]

Hayes made it clear that Brad Marchand’s actions should be penalized to prevent such actions in the future.

“I think it’s worthy of a suspension, even if it’s just one game for stupidity.”

So far the NHL has not announced any punishment on Marchand.

Nick Cousins has scored five goals and eight assists in 46 games for the Ottawa Senators. Over his career, Cousins has 76 goals and 117 assists in 638 games. Meanwhile, Brad Marchand is leading the Bruins in his second season as a captain. He has scored 17 goals and 20 assists in 50 games.

Brad Marchand and Bruins secured a shutout win against Senators

The Boston Bruins won 2-0 against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday at TD Garden. Brad Marchand recorded four shots on goal in 18:26 minutes of ice time.

Morgan Geekie scored the first goal at 2:06 in the second period. David Pastrnak passed the puck from behind the Ottawa net to Geekie for a tap-in. In the final seconds, Pastrnak added an empty-net goal to seal the win.

Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo made 29 saves for his third shutout of the season. The Bruins are now 4-1-1 in their last six games.