Tampa Bay Lightning F Brian Boyle Will Not Face Hearing For Hickey Hit

Tampa Bay Lightning center Brian Boyle will not be forced to face a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety for his hit on Thomas Hickey in Game 3.

Despite the fact the Tampa Bay Lightning really had no sort of rivalry with the New York Islanders before the start of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the second round series has turned out to be one heck of a physical battle between these two Eastern Conference opponents.

The tensions between these two teams started slowly in Game 1 with some mild pushing and shoving followed by a few small bouts of fists. However, as the series has forged on and traveled north to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, those aforementioned tensions reached an all-time high.

Things reached a boiling point, at least for Tampa Bay Lightning fans, in the second period of Game 3 on Tuesday night at the Barclays Center. As the two teams hit the ice for the second period of play, the Tampa Bay Lightning was riding the momentum they gained in the final moments of the first period when a goal from Lightning alternate captain Ryan Callahan tied things up.

Lightning rookie Jonathan Drouin was fully utilizing his speed to push the puck through the neutral zone and into the Islanders’ offensive zone. Before Drouin had any concept what was going on, he was absolutely blindsided by Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey with a nasty shot to the head. This would cause Drouin to miss the remainder of the second period and the first half of the third period.

Later in the game, the tables would turn and this time, it would be Thomas Hickey on the receiving end of a rather hard hit. With just 39 seconds left in the game, Nikita Kucherov would bring home a goal that would tie the game for the Tampa Bay Lightning and force overtime. As you can imagine, overtime is the point in a hockey game where players have already given it all they have and no have to dig deeper for more.

So, Thomas Hickey was attempting to play the puck on the edge of the neutral zone when here came Brian Boyle who laid a hit on Hickey that would have made the likes of former Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Radko Gudas proud. Removing Hickey from the equation opened up the coverage on the side of the net. After a few well-placed passes, Boyle was able to put the puck in the net and give the Bolts a 2-1 series lead.

This is where things get a little dicey. Tampa Bay Lightning fans here and around the Bolts Nation feel Thomas Hickey deserves some form of supplemental discipline for his blatant head shot on Jonathan Drouin in the second period. At the same time, New York Islanders fans, along with Head Coach Jack Capuano, feel Brian Boyle made contact with Hickey’s head and therefore he should receive a hearing for his actions.

Unfortunately, this is one of those situations where neither side is going to get their wish. According to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times, neither Brian Boyle nor Thomas Hickey will face a hearing for either of their instances. While this is not the outcome we expected in regards to the Drouin hit, we absolutely expected Boyle to receive no form of supplemental discipline.

We here at Bolts By The Bay have watched the hit from Brian Boyle to Thomas Hickey somewhere topside of 20 times today and there is absolutely no indication of anything other than a legitimate hit. While Hickey’s head did whip to the side, this was not due to contact. Every time we’ve watched the hit, it looks as if Boyle and Hickey met at shoulder level. Unfortunately for Hickey, he was on the losing end of the momentum.

Next: Lightning/Islanders Get Heated In Pre-Game Warmups (Video)

Given the amount of heat between these two teams in Game 3, we can only imagine that some of this is going to spill over into Game 4 on Friday night. Being down 2-1 in the series, the New York Islanders are going to be hungry for a win, and the Lightning have already experienced firsthand what happens when the Islanders have their backs against the wall. At the very least, hockey fans from both sides of the ice will never be bored.

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