The series between Boston and Florida has been fiery, and after injuring Bruins captain Brad Marchand, Panthers forward Sam Bennett has now stood up for himself. The Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins are certainly no strangers to the physical style of play, and that's shown itself through four games in this Eastern Conference Semi-Finals matchup. Game three was perhaps the worst of all however, with Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand colliding, causing the Bruins captain to miss a crucial game four as Florida went up 3-1 in the series. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/DuaneS39/status/1789786292777009347'> </a></blockquote></div> Some have called it an intentional sucker punch from the veteran forward, with a key Bruins analyst believing he should have been suspended for game four. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/wbzsports/status/1790064114468888628'> </a></blockquote></div> Now, Bennett has finally spoken about the incident and all of the criticism that's come his way, reiterating that he was simply bracing himself for the hit. <q>I was bracing myself for him coming to hit me. There's no way I would've had time to think about punching him in the head, Bennett explained. People can see it however they want. It's playoff hockey. There's gonna be hard plays. It's unfortunate he got hit, but that's just a hockey play in my mind.</q> <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/LO_FLAPanthers/status/1790145534323253745'> </a></blockquote></div> Truly we'll never know, as the play happened so quickly, but after these comments, it's safe to say that there will be plenty of fire as this series shifts back to Florida. Source: Hockey Feed <a href='https://www.hockeyfeed.com/nhl-news/sam-bennett-fires-back-at-his-critics-after-injuring-brad-marchand' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Sam Bennett fires back at his critics after injuring Brad Marchand</a>