Montreal Canadiens forward Brandon Prust has avoided a suspension for his post-game comments regarding referee Brad Watson, according to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports.
Following a first-period roughing minor, Prust was assessed an additional two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct after an exchange with Watson.
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“I thought the original call was kind of soft and I let (Watson) know on the way to the penalty box,” Prust told reporters after a 6-2 loss Sunday. “He kept provoking me. He came to the box and called me every name in the book.
“He called me a piece of you know what, an [expletive], coward, said he’d drive me right out of this building. I wasn’t looking at him. He teed me up. That’s the ref he is. He tries to play God. He tries to control the game and he did that tonight.”
Prust was all over the score sheet in Game 2. In addition to registering an assist, the 31-year-old finished the game with 31 total penalty minutes of and received a game misconduct after knocking over Lightning goalie Ben Bishop and getting into a fight late in the third period.
As Prust left the ice, he threw his elbow pad at Steven Stamkos on the Lightning bench who in return threw it into the stands.
The Canadiens trail the series 2-0 as the action heads to Tampa for Game 3 Wednesday and Game 4 Thursday.
