Patrice Bergeron was not surprised how quickly the Stanley Cup finals turned nasty, but the Boston forward was shocked to feel Vancouver's Alex Burrows chomp down on the tip of his finger during a skirmish.
Burrows denied it, but he could still face discipline from the NHL after replays appeared to show him bite Bergeron's finger during a melee at the end of the first period.
"I don't mind rough play and scrums at the end, as long as it's just pushing and shoving and all that," Bergeron said. "But biting? I mean, come on."
Burrows and Bergeron were in the middle of a big scrum behind the Boston net at the end of the first period. Bergeron said Burrows bit down as he put his glove in Burrows's face.
"Oh yeah, he did. He cut me a little bit on my finger," said Bergeron, whose right index finger was wrapped in a small bandage. "One of his teeth caught under my nail. We just disinfected it and I'm going to take some antibiotics just to make sure. Obviously, it's not that bad but I don't want to take any risks."
Burrows denied biting Bergeron. "I don't think so," Burrows said. "He had his fingers in my mouth, but I don't think I bit him."