Devils beat Flyers again; Flyers bite back

What was the biggest story in the Devils' 3-0 win over the Flyers tonight?

Martin Brodeur posting his fourth shutout of the season and 96th of his career to move within seven of Terry Sawchuk's record?

The Devils' continued dominance of the Flyers (4-1 this season, 14-1-1 in their last 16, 11 in a row at home)?

Patrik Elias scoring one goal and setting up another in his first game back after missing two with a tight groin?

Travis Zajac breaking an 11-game goal drought? The power play scoring for the second time in as many games? The Devils drawing their fourth sellout of the season?

While all of that was significant, the hot topic after tonight's game involved Derian Hatcher's mouth and the middle finger on Zajac's left hand.

Zajac and the Devils say that Hatcher bit his finger during a scrum in front of the Devils' net 9:25 into the second period. Hatcher claims that Zajac's finger accidentally got caught on his tooth while Zajac was giving him a face wash from behind with his gloved hand.

Here's how each player described it.

Zajac: "I don't know. I guess my finger got close to his mouth and he bit me. But things happen. Emotions run high. It's not really a big deal."

Hatcher: "I know exactly what you're talking about. He came in, went like that (motioning with his hand) across my face. It was in front of the net. If he's cut, good. I didn't bite him."

If the NHL accepts that explanation and Hatcher escapes punishment (no penalty was called), Roger Clemens might soon be saying his butt accidentally got caught on a needle containing HGH.

Fox Sports New York showed a replay of Zajac pulling his hand away ungloved, but you couldn't see Hatcher biting his hand. The Devils say they have video of immediately after the alleged bite.

"The angle we have shows Trav pulling his hand away and the glove is still in Hatcher's mouth, like a dog on a bone," Devils coach Brent Sutter said.

However Hatcher's tooth made contact with Zajac's finger, it went through his glove and broke the skin, opening a cut that required stitches. "His glove was on, I think, yeah," Hatcher said. "He just came across and went like that (across his face). Play went on and no one even said a word until five or 10 minutes later when one of their players asked me. Until then, I didn't think anything of it."

Zajac missed the remainder of the period while being stitched up and returned for the third. He wore a plastic guard on his finger, covering the stitches. "I felt a little pain, a little blood, just got stitched up and went back out," he said.

Hatcher claimed he almost lost the tooth in question. "He almost ripped this tooth out," he said, pointing to one on his lower jaw. "Right here. It's sore."

Comments

[jules]

Hope Travis got his rabies shot.

[Mikedeadworks]

yea, idk if I should be disgusted by this or laughing till it hurts... well a little of both really. I've never liked Hatcher though, always thought he was a piece of garbage. Just the way he is, even before a lot of NJ fans got to get a look at him in the 2000 Dallas series Finals, I always knew of him to be a real big loser.

Hope Colin Campbell comes down on the Flyers like he said he would if they keep causing problems. Not sure what he could do though...take away draft picks?

[lash26]

Seriously, how could Zajac need stitches on his middle finger unless Hatcher bit him? Even if he did give him a face wash (which I didn't catch on any of the replays I saw), Zajac would have had to slam his middle finger into Hatcher's mouth at quite a fast speed to break through the leather.

Crazy - Hatcher should definitely get a suspension and a long one at that. The Flyers are out of hand this year.

[Arteg]

Off topic, but does anyone know why the replays on FoxSports aren't in HD? If the show the live game in HD, why don't they show the replay in HD? Curious.

[jules]

No suspension - it would be worse for the Flyers if Hatcher was forced to play. A suspension would be a blessing for them. Still, it's pretty messed up to bite another player.

"'The angle we have shows Trav pulling his hand away and the glove is still in Hatcher's mouth, like a dog on a bone,' Devils coach Brent Sutter said.

Nice one, Brent! Congrats to him for being an All-Star assistant coach as well.

[Brian]

Whats next from Philly? I never saw a bite on the FSNY feed, but I want to see the video the Devils have. At first glance I figured Travis just got his hand jammed in somewhere and somehow cut it, but now its making sense.

[Danofan355]

Love how Hatcher whined about almost losing a tooth. Doesn't he realize that normal people don't bite? Unbelievable!

[Jim A.]

What a nutty game. Funniest moment came when one of the ice cleaners tried to skate with his blade guards on. Got a good cheer from the crowd for that one.

[DevsForLife]

Hatcher should get the suspension of his career. What a Jerk. I can't belive he didn't get a penalty for "biting" or maybe just an unsportsmanlike conduct. Steroids is one thing but shouldn't there be a rule against taking "dog-roids"?

[JJ]

That lame excuse is right up there with "I thought it was the ball". Please, I mean, he cut the guy! It's just typical Flyers, they're just like school in the summertime.

Just a thought, but there's probably no HD replays b/c you'd need an HD camera at every angle.

[Mike M]

"If he's cut, good"

That really says it all for me.

[Dave]

If Sutter said they have a replay showing it, I'm inclined to believe him, but until I see it I still don't think Hatcher bit him. It is possible Zajac's finger caught Hatcher's tooth and that's how he got cut.

[MikeIsNuts]

Mike M, as someone said Zajac would have had to slam his gove into Hatcher's mouth with the force of a jackhammer for the tooth to get through the leather to his finger. No way that could happen unless Hatcher bit down. Have you ever played hockey? Do you know how tough those gloves are? Typical Hatcher, typical low class Flyers.

[DevilWorshipper]

If I recall correctly, the NHL never punished Hatcher for the elbow that knocked Petr Sykora out of the 6th and deciding game of the 2000 Stanley Cup Finals. I always thought that was one of the league's biggest injustices since it caused Sykora to miss the Stanley Cup winning celebration.

[Sarah]

DevilWorshipper -- Completely agree, and I've had serious issues with Hatcher ever since. He's a dirty player that tends to fly under the radar more than the Simons of the world, and it drives me nuts. I hope this gets some attention, but I doubt it will.

[RJ Arditti]

I have to say that as a former player, you arent just biting... you gotta bite really F&*king hard to break that leather AND draw blood, and the fact that he required stitches tells the whole story here as far as i am concerned....to bite through a hockey glove AND through the top layer of skin ON A HOCKEY PLAYERS HAND(anyone who plays can attest... the hands definitely get toughened over the years!) leaves no question that there was intent to injure on hatchers part.. hopefully he gets a nice ong suspension..... not that it really matters, he might be the slowest defenseman i have seen since Dan McGillis!

[StanH]

Downie's chop on the back of Greene's legs was pretty stupid too. Players like him will not learn from suspension. It's just a matter of time until he loses it again. The FSN telecast said that Commissioner Bettman was at the game. The fact that he did it right in front of Bettman's face says that Downie has no respect for himself, the Commish or the game.

[Shari]

I don't think that anything will happen to Hatcher, just like nothing happened when Sarge got cross checked in the throat. Am I the only one that thinks that if any of these things happened to one of the Maple Leafs there would have been suspensions handed out? Gio needs to wear a cage to protect Himself from all of those face washes He gets on a nightly basis, He gets no respect, He gets thrown, flicked in the face,cross checked,tapped on the top of His helmet, flipped, tripped,and slapped. You name it, and He doesn't cry like a baby He just fights back and stands up for Himself, You have to respect the Hell out of a Guy like that, I always look forward to Big Z trying to get to Him, and He fights right back, they will have another round tonight. Go Gio, and Go Devils.

[Ben M.]

lash26 - I've noticed whenever FSNY HD follows the puck behind the nets and give a "Goalie View" perspective, the camera is not HD. (Not the cameras inside the nets) My screen goes from widescreen to standard, HD to SD with side bars. Also yeah, some replays are not in HD, but some are.