{"id":15809,"date":"2018-05-07T15:29:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-07T15:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2018\/05\/07\/nhl-player-brad-marchand-stops-licking-opponents-on-leagues-orders\/"},"modified":"2018-05-07T15:29:00","modified_gmt":"2018-05-07T15:29:00","slug":"nhl-player-brad-marchand-stops-licking-opponents-on-leagues-orders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/nhl-player-brad-marchand-stops-licking-opponents-on-leagues-orders\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Player Brad Marchand Stops Licking Opponents, On League's Orders"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Camila Domonoske<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins looks on during Game 5 of the Eastern Conference second round against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Tampa, Fla., on Sunday.<\/p>\n

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Mike Ehrmann\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Mike Ehrmann\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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On Sunday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Boston Bruins to head to the NHL’s Eastern Conference Finals.<\/p>\n

And nobody licked anybody.<\/p>\n

That was not a guarantee. Bruins left wing Brad Marchand licked opposing players twice this postseason.<\/p>\n

Marchand is famously antagonistic<\/a> and annoying<\/a>, earning the unofficial title of the biggest pest in the NHL<\/a>, a label his team has embraced<\/a>. But his new strategy earned some ire off the ice, and the National Hockey League stepped in to order Marchand to knock it off.<\/p>\n

In Game 1 of the Bruins’ first-round series, against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Marchand licked Leo Komarov’s neck.<\/p>\n

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Did Marchand just lick Komarov?<\/p>\n

He can’t taste good.
pic.twitter.com\/32HCZlRgDY<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Duffy on WCMF (@DuffyOnWCMF) April 13, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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“I thought he wanted to cuddle,” Marchand told reporters<\/a> after the game, tongue in cheek. “I was just trying to get close to him.”<\/p>\n

The Bruins beat the Maple Leafs in that game \u2014 Marchand had a goal and an assist \u2014 and won the series, as well.<\/p>\n

But Marchand’s second licking wasn’t so lucky. During Game 4 of the second-round series, on Friday, Marchand lapped at Lightning forward Ryan Callahan.<\/p>\n