Are some ill feelings starting to seep into this Stanley Cup Finals series? There were only six penalties called in Game 5 — one of which was a non-physical delay-of-game penalty — but there were hard hits and, for the first time, some post-whistle scrum action. It started at the New Jersey end, when Martin Brodeur ended up with his jersey over his head, and it extended to the other end, when Jonathan Quick got jostled, the teams tussled and Dustin Penner and Alexei Ponikarovsky got matching roughing penalties late in the game. To the credit of both teams, play has been clean, but are things starting to get more chippy? Drew Doughty said it’s nothing out of the norm for two teams in a series.
DOUGHTY: “I think that’s just what happens. You create those rivalries with individual players, or just in general, the whole team, you learn to hate. They want it so bad and we want it so bad. That’s just what is going to happen on the ice. You’re going to have those battles after the whistle and between the whistles. It’s part of hockey and that’s why we love it.’’
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