“I watched it again, and I didn’t jump and my elbows were down. He’s taller than me, right?” said Lucic. “I think he’s like 6-foot-4 and it was one of those things where I hit him and his head hit the glass [afterward]. It’s unfortunate for them and it’s unfortunate for Rick that he might be out because of that hit. But I have to play a certain [physical] style and Cam [Neely], Peter [Chiarelli] and Claude [Julien] all expect me to play that way.
“I’m just trying to fore-check and do my job. I’m just trying to do what I get paid to do. I don’t hit dirty. I’ve had one [supplemental discipline] call about a hit in my six years so far. So you can criticize me if you want, but whatever. I’ve had dings where little guys have hit me too, but I was fortunate that I didn’t have to miss any time. If I targeted the head then the league would have been looking at it very closely. We’ve got our own team here and our own things to worry about.”