Boston Bruins scoring leader Milan Lucic will most likely miss Monday's game against the Florida Panthers after his punch of the Atlanta Thrashers' Freddy Meyer at the end of Thursday evening's 4-1 win.
Lucic received a game misconduct and match penalty for his fight with Meyer, which automatically sits him out of the Bruins next contest. The NHL will review Lucic's conduct in a discplinary hearing on Sunday, said TSN's Darren Dreger in a Friday tweet, and could overturn the automatic suspension. There also lies the possibility that Lucic could have games added to the suspension at the hearing.
The loss of Lucic would hurt the Bruins' offense. He currently leads the team in both total points (27) and goals (16).
Bruins coach Claude Julien hoped that Lucic wouldn't serve his punishment alone. After Thursday's game, Julien proclaimed the hit on Lucic by Meyer to start the scrum was a "dirty hit." Julien told NESN.com:
"I'm going to stand here and say our guys stood together for something that was, to me, a real cheap shot and uncalled for and hopefully the league sees it that way, too."
Meyer (a New Hampshire native and former Boston University hockey All-American) received elbowing and fighting penalties for the hit and the fight. In addition to Lucic and Meyer, five other players received penalities connected to the fight, which occured with less than five minutes left in the game.