NHL suspends Bruins forward Brad Marchand three games

The Boston Bruins will be without Brad Marchand for the next three games.

On Monday afternoon the NHL levied a three-game suspension for a Sunday night slew-foot on Vancouver Canucks defenseman Oliver-Ekman Larsson.

Marchand and Ekman-Larsson both were skating for a loose puck jockeying for position. The Bruins forward initiated contact with his upper body before sweeping out Ekman-Larsson’s left leg.

“These actions cause Ekman-Larsson to fall dangerously to the ice,” the NHL said in a video detailing the suspension. “It’s important to note there’s many occasions through a game where players use their legs or their stick and upper body to restrain or impede their opponents or to gain position in a puck battle.

“When these plays rise to the level of being illegal, the majority of those can be adequately punished with in-game penalties. What causes this play to rise to the level of supplemental discipline is Marchand’s use of both his use of upper and lower body to take Ekman-Larsson to the ice in a dangerous fashion.”

Marchand has been suspended six times in his 822 career games, the NHL noting, adding that one of them was for slew-footing.