Lucic 'happy' he didn't warrant a suspension

For those that said the Meyer hit on Milan Lucic wasn’t high or dirty think again. The NHL disciplinarian Mike Murphy thought otherwise and decided not to suspend Milan Lucic for his punch on Freddy Meyer. The rematch in Atlanta on Thursday night should could (since no one attends Thrasher games) be a barn burner as the Bruins and Thrasher are starting to become a bit of a rivalry. Here is the box score to the game in question. [Box Score] Check out what Joe Haggerty had to say about the matter.

SUNRISE, FL. – Milan Lucic called the Sunday disciplinary call with NHL Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Mike Murphy a “slap on the wrist” while talking about it following Monday’s morning skate at Bank Atlantic Center.

Lucic said he was ecstatic about avoiding a suspension.

The Bruins’ top left winger was slapped with a match penalty in the middle of the line brawl in the third period of win over the Thrashers, and some assumed he’d end up with a one-game suspension after the incident.

Instead, Murphy and the NHL took into account the dangerous nature of Meyer’s hit that precipitated the entire chain of events -- and Lucic’s contrition after the fact certainly didn’t hurt his cause.

“That’s basically what it was: a slap on the wrist,” said Lucic. “They made it clear it’s something that shouldn’t be a part of the game, and I feel the same way. Looking back on it it’s something I shouldn’t have done, but sometimes you do things that you don’t mean to do once you get your adrenaline going.

“I’m just happy it wasn’t a game suspension and I’ll take the fine. We were looking back at some previous sucker punches and mine was more of a straight jab. I didn’t cock my hand back or anything like that. You can look at the Scott Walker/Aaron Ward incident where he brought his hand fully back for a haymaker where mine was a jab.”

The big power forward admitted wrongdoing while talking about the punch thrown to Freddy Meyer’s head, and the middle finger he “accidentally” extended out at the Atlanta bench as he was escorted off the ice.

Lucic was fined a total of $3500 by the NHL for both the punch and the obscene hand gesture, and chalked it up to a matter of basically seeing red.

“I didn’t feel anything on kind of hit to my chest. That was straight to the head area,” said Lucic. “He’s a lot shorter than me and he did leave his feet.

“I took it right on the head and the chin, and that’s why we reacted as a group. It was great to see that all of the guys had my back. We all had each other’s back on the ice. It’s a great feeling to know the other guys have your back no matter what the situation.”

Freddy Meyer came in high with a hit on Lucic in the third period that the refs deemed an “elbowing” penalty, and the 22-year-old said Meyer’s hit was very reminiscent of a Bryan Berard hit during his rookie season that knocked Lucic out for five games with a concussion.

With his mouth bleeding and his anger stirred, Lucic went at Meyer after he was tackled by Andrew Ference – and eventually found him with a right-handed jab that decked the surprised Meyer after refs had begun regaining order in the scrum. Lucic said he’d be ready if the Thrashers come looking for revenge against him when the Bruins travel to Atlanta on Wednesday night.