WILMINGTON, Mass. -- Florida Panthers forward Jesse Winchester will have a discipline hearing with the NHL later Friday for his elbow to the head of Bruins forward Chris Kelly during Boston’s 4-1 win Thursday night at TD Garden.
Early in the second period, Winchester left his feet and caught Kelly in the head with the blow. Kelly remained on the ice for a moment and was tended to by team trainer Donnie DelNegro before skating off the ice and going to the locker room. Kelly seemed dazed but quickly returned to action. No penalty was called on Winchester, but the Bruins’ Gregory Campbell took care of business when he dropped the gloves with Winchester on the ensuing shift.
“I looked at the hit, the league looked at it. I wasn’t going to say anything about it. Those kinds of things you let the league take care of it,” said Bruins coach Claude Julien following the team’s practice Friday morning at Ristuccia Arena. “I’m just happy Chris was able to come back and he did. As Chris said, the player that hit him is a former colleague of his, and [Winchester] is a nice guy, I know him as well. I don’t think there was a real intent to injure more than it was a reckless hit and that’s why the league is looking into it.”
Kelly and Winchester are former teammates, and the Bruins assistant captain showed no ill will toward him.
“I haven’t seen the replay,” Kelly said. “I did see that he’s getting a hearing. The league will make the proper decisions. I don’t want to comment on it either way. I’ll let them handle it.”
