OTTAWA — A question about retribution hung in the air Monday morning ahead of Game 6 of the Rangers-Senators series. It centered on this Game 5 hit by Ottawa’s Chris Neil on the Rangers’ Brian Boyle …  … which gave Boyle a concussion that is keeping him out of Game 6 – and which not only went unpenalized in the game, but also resulted in no disciplinary hearing from the N.H.L. Department of Player Safety.  “That was last game — I’m only going to focus on tonight, so I’m not going to comment on it,” Neil said after the morning skate here. “Obviously the league thought it was clean. Whenever I go and finish checks, that’s what I try to do.”  Did he expect any ill will from the Rangers?  “I’m not going to worry about that — I’m just going to go out and play. That’s what I do.”  Did Neil have any thoughts on Rangers Coach John Tortorella’s comments that it was a “dangerous, dangerous, cheap hit”?  “I haven’t seen it — I don’t watch you guys,” he said. “Whenever there’s an off day I shut the TV off and focus on my kids.”  Senators Coach Paul MacLean said the idea of the Rangers seeking revenge had not crossed his mind.  And the Rangers’ captain, Ryan Callahan, said pretty much the same thing.  “You can’t – not this time of year,” he said. “You can’t get in the box. You can’t let their power play on the ice. It’s not a matter of going back and retaliating. At this time of year, you can’t do it.”  So it would seem as if frontier justice will not be on display Monday night, not with so much on the line.  Then again, nothing was said after Game 1, in which Boyle jabbed the head of the much smaller defenseman Erik Karlsson like a speed bag. But the Senators used Game 2 as an orgy of retribution against Boyle, jumping him once and then challenging him to a fight — Boyle vs. Neil — later in the game.
Ottawa's Chris Neil said he would not worry about retribution from the Rangers for his hit on Brian Boyle in Game 5. And the Rangers said they couldn't afford to give away power plays at this time of the year.