Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said to "Call the league" after being asked about Ridly Greig's cross-check to John Tavares' head, and The Athletic's Chris Johnston did that.
Six minutes into the second period of Toronto's 6-2 win in Game 1 against the Senators, Tavares went to throw a hit on Greig, and the Ottawa forward caught Tavares up high with a cross-check.
The referees assessed a five-minute major to review the penalty before changing it to a two-minute cross-checking penalty.
"That's not my call. That's not my call," Berube said after the game on Sunday night.
"I mean, the referees and the league will look at things and make the call they make. We're not going to focus on that. We've gotta to focus on what we need to do the next game."
According to Johnston, who reached out to the league, Greig will not face supplemental discipline for his role in the hit in the second period.
"Just going to let the refs in the league handle it, so just going to compete hard and try to fight for every inch you can," Tavares said after the game. "And whatever way calls go, games go, you fight through it and continue to play."
Greig had a goal in the third period for Ottawa before driving the net hard and sliding into Anthony Stolarz later in the game. "I’m fine. He just kind of came in and caught me in a little awkward spot," Stolarz said. I think my knee hit the post there, but yeah, it was something that just happened. He blew a tire."
The game ended with penalties going 15-8 in favor of Ottawa. Toronto scored three power play goals, via John Tavares, William Nylander, and Matthew Knies. Senators head coach Travis Green added that he thought the Maple Leafs were going down too easily.
"I thought they made some attempts at our goalie and sliding into him and things like that, but that's not for us to worry about," Berube said after the game. "We've got to focus on playing and we've got to focus on ourselves and what we need to do. The league will look after that stuff."
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