Brad Marchand's protest of incorrect high stick call lands him extra time in penalty box

Controversial Boston Bruins star Brad Marchand's antics got him extra time in the penalty box Saturday night.

The man who licked opponents in last season's playoffs and pummeled Washington Capitals forward Lars Eller in this season's opener because he didn't like how he celebrated the seventh goal of a rout, pushed the limits again in a 1-0 loss to the Nashville Predators.

Marchand was upset when he was called for high-sticking Nashville's Colton Sissons in the closing seconds of the first period.

The issue is that Marchand's stick never made contact with the Predators center, and Sissons drew a call with an embellished reaction.

Marchand reacted to the embellishment with an even greater embellishment, dropping to the ice and grabbing his head to demonstrate that the call was wrong.

Marchand continued the histrionics as linesman Kiel Murchison led him to the penalty box, leading referee Marc Joannette to tack on an unsportsmanlike minor and a 10-minute misconduct.

Yes, the initial call was wrong and his reputation likely cost him, but Marchand's persistence left his team short-handed for four minutes and denied the team his services for 14 minutes. The Bruins did kill off the penalty.

"He bit on the embellishment," Marchand said after the game about Joannette, "and that's a tough time to call with less than a second left in the period in a game like that, so yeah, it's frustrating."

Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said Marchand needed to show more discipline, but the referees needed to work with him better, too.

"He's had his run-ins with the law," Cassidy told NESN about Marchand, "but the 10-minute misconduct, I thought, was out of line. (The referee) could have talked to him, talked him off, say, 'I've heard your piece, now move along.' "