Berube on Zub's hit against Tavares: 'Looked like a head shot to me'
Published
Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube was not a fan of Artem Zub's hit on John Tavares that caused the Leafs forward to miss part of overtime during Saturday's game.
Late in Saturday's game, Tavares was skating in the slot in front of Linus Ullmark's net when Zub's elbow/shoulder made contact with him. Tavares went down and was slow to get to his feet. He skated back to the bench before heading off to the Maple Leafs dressing room for a bit before returning.
Zub was not penalized on the play nor was there any supplemental discipline.
"I don't like the hit," said Berube on Monday. "Puck's nowhere near him. Looked like a head shot to me."
Tavares returned later in overtime as the Maple Leafs lost 3-2 to the Senators on a goal from Jake Sanderson.
The 34-year-old centre has three goals and two assists through the first four games of the series as Toronto has a 3-1 lead. He said he was pulled by a concussion spotter hence his absence.
"Pretty obvious what happened on the play," said Tavares, who practised Monday morning. "Puck’s nowhere near me. But just move on from it. Go out there and keep competing and trust that the refs are going to make the right calls."
Game 5 of the series is on Tuesday night back in Toronto.