A skirmish broke out between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers in the final moments of Sunday's Game 4 at Scotiabank Arena, fueled by a dirty hit from Max Domi on an unsuspecting Aleksander Barkov.
As tensions rise ahead of Wednesday's Game 5, Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube was asked about the hit in the waning moments of Sunday's loss. Rather than discuss Domi's actions, Berube pointed out another incident during the game that he felt was far more severe.
"To me the [Dmitry] Kulikov hit on [Mitch] Marner was 10 times worse," Berube said, via Chris Johnston of The Athletic.
Berube was referring to a big hit Kulikov delivered onto Marner along the boards during the game, in which his elbow caught the Maple Leafs winger straight on the head.
Here's a look at that hit:
Kulikov lands a high elbow on Marner pic.twitter.com/Xtf3d0kSUb
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 12, 2025
The hit from Kulikov on Marner went unpenalized by the officiating crew, and Berube clearly feels that it was more dangerous than the incident between Domi and Barkov.
Domi was fined the maximum allowable $5,000 for his antics at the end of Game 4, though it seems Kulikov has escaped any punishment for the elbow to Marner's head.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Maple Leafs Coach Weighs in on Max Domi's Dirty Hit on Panthers Captain.
