Nashville Predators defenseman P.K. Subban accused Vegas Golden Knights Vegas forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare of biting him on the finger during a spirited play in the second period of Wednesday night’s game in Las Vegas.
The alleged action happened during a scrum in front of the net. Subban said after the Predators’ 2-1 win that while he did reach around Bellemare’s head to try to pull him away from Predators goalie Juuse Saros, he did not put his finger anywhere near Bellemare’s mouth.
“All I tried to do was grab him. I grabbed him by the head to pull him up and he bit me, so that’s it,” said Subban, who was ultimately assessed two penalties for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct. “I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how I walk out of there with four minutes in penalties. They tried to apologize after the fact, but they already gave me four minutes in penalties. My finger is bleeding.
“It just is what it is. It’s the last game before the break for us, and I’m just focused on playing the game. The last thing you want to do is change the focus of our team there. We won the game, so I forgot about it after that.”
Bellemare insisted Subban put his hand near his mouth and removed his mouth guard.
“He tried to pull me up, so obviously he’s feeling teeth and he’s acting on it,” Bellemare said. “I don’t know what to tell you, really.”
When asked about Subban’s claims that he bit his finger, Bellemare said: “I mean, if you put your hand all the way in the mouth … and you pull up, you’re going to feel the teeth.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.