Maple Leafs' Chris Tanev Faces Potential Punishment After Hit From Behind on David Pastrnak

It's always heated whenever the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs get together, and both teams are currently at a crossroads in their season. Boston is at the bottom of the division and Toronto is smack dab in the middle; neither team has shown their previous capabilities and it's made even worse for Toronto because they are without their captain Auston Matthews.

Well, they hopefully will be able to avoid another player's absence and this tikme it's defenseman Chris Tanev, who may be in some hot water with the NHL Player Safety Department after his hit on Boston's David Pastrnak:

It certainly was not the cleanest of checks, and Tanev should know better than to do something like that. Granted, Toronto may have wanted to send a message that they are for real this time, but it could cost Tanev money, or a game. Nowadays, it's too risky to do these types of hits, or be too careless with your stick, lest you want to feel the wrath of the sometimes clueless officials.

The NHL Player Safety Department likes to often make a mockery of these incidents, either grossly over punishing incidents, or letting egregious ones slide. There have been several times that the NHL has turned a blind eye to a vicious hit, but then they will turn around and fine a player $5k for a 'reverse hit'.

The hit may have affected Boston's morale as Toronto has jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to powerplay goals from Morgan Rielly and William Nylander, a huge boost to Toronto's atrocious powerplay, as they have nearly matched their season total in this game alone.

It's going to be interesting to see if the Toronto blueliner can escape punishment, but one thing is for certain in regards to the NHL Player Safety Department; if you're a Toronto Maple Leafs, make sure you have your checkbook ready at all times.