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'Bough was lucky' Penguins still angry at Richardson's shot
Posted: Monday May 08, 2000 07:45 PM
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Pittsburgh Penguins remained angry Monday at Philadelphia defenseman Luke Richardson for shooting a puck directly into defenseman Bob Boughner's chest, with Boughner promising to get back at Richardson. Richardson teed up a slap shot from the red line and fired it into Boughner's chest during the second period of the Flyers' 6-3 victory Sunday. Boughner bruised his sternum and did not return to the game, but chest X-rays were negative. The Penguins felt Richardson's shot was a deliberate intent to injure. Richardson drew a two-minute penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct and Boughner, who was engaged with the Flyers' Keith Jones when he was struck with the puck, was penalized for roughing. "I'm sure he'll say it wasn't on purpose. But we got into a little thing right before that ... and I'm sure there was some intent there," Boughner said Monday. "But there are ways to come back, and ways to take care of what needs to be taken care of. "It may not be the next game, but it may be next year." Asked what he can do to get back at Richardson, Boughner said, "You can send a message, and there are different ways to do it. There are ways of combating that. Maybe tomorrow's not the right time to do it, but there are ways." Boughner said the shot struck him in the middle of his chest. "That was very dangerous," Penguins defenseman Darius Kasparaitis said. "Bough was lucky he didn't get hit in the face or the throat, or it could have killed him. You don't expect anything like that." Penguins coach Herb Brooks also was angered by Richardson's shot, which was replayed several times on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.'s telecast. "I wonder if he's a direct descendant of the coward who murdered Jesse James," Brooks said. "I'm sure if you go back, he's in the family tree somewhere. There is a code for tough guys in the league, and that went way beyond it." Richardson said he's more worried about the Penguins coming back to win Game 6 than he is of any Penguins coming at him. The Flyers lead 3-2 and can win the best-of-seven series with a victory Tuesday. "We want to give ourselves a chance to win it in Pittsburgh," Richardson said. "We have to be ready for their desperation. We have to understand that a seventh game is an 'anything' situation and we don't want to get ourselves into that, even though it would be in our rink. "We would like to win the series in six if we could, but we're going to get the best that we've seen from them." Richardson insisted he wasn't trying to hurt Boughner. "I didn't see him until I had already let go of the puck," he said. "I thought we were getting a penalty, so I'd just take a shot on the net." Meanwhile, the NHL on Monday did not suspend Penguins forward Matthew Barnaby for bumping into referee Mark Faucette in Game 5. Barnaby was ejected after charging at Faucette, arguing defenseman Adam Burt pinned him along the boards deep in Philadelphia's zone, allowing an odd-man rush on which the Flyers scored. As he held Barnaby down, Burt further angered Barnaby by rubbing his face with his glove. "I don't want to say anything, because I don't want to be fined," Barnaby said. The Penguins had little reaction to Barnaby's temper tantrum, although goaltender Ron Tugnutt said, "We want our emotional guys to give us a spark."
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