Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri said Friday he believes his hit on Boston Bruins forward Tommy Wingels in Game 1 was worthy of suspension, but that the three-game punishment was too harsh.

Kadri, as he did after the Game 1 loss last week, said he was defending teammate Mitch Marner when he threw the hit on Wingels, who had fallen to the ice in front of the sideboards. 

"I was disappointed; I wasn’t expecting [three], that’s for sure," Kadri said. "That particular play, I felt a liberty had been taken on Mitch. I’m always going to stand up for my teammates, stand up for myself; that part isn’t going to change.

"Was it worthy of a suspension? I definitely think so. But I think the three games was definitely a little harsh. I didn't feel like it was a malicious play to go in and try to hurt him. It was a more of a statement thing, making a lot of contact with the majority of the boards.

"I think if my intent was there, there possibly could have been an injury and it could have been a lot worse."

Kadri was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for the hit. Wingels left Game 1 after the hit, and did not play in Game 2 due to injury. He was a healthy scratch in Game 3 and returned to the Bruins lineup for their 3-1 win on Thursday night.

"I didn't like the hit. I thought I was in a vulnerable spot," Wingels said last week. "As a game, as a league and as players, that's the stuff we don't want in our game. It was handled, the league did a great job and now it's in the past." 

The Maple Leafs centre is eligible to return on Saturday for Game 5 with his team down 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.

"You have to believe, that’s the most important thing," Kadri said of the deficit. "You have to trust in one another. This would definitely make for a great story, so we’re going to approach it game by game."

It's unclear where Kadri will slot into the Leafs lineup for their must-win Game 5. TSN Maple Leafs reporter Kristen Shilton wrote the following on the situation after Game 4:

[Maple Leafs head coach Mike] Babcock singled out two lines as Toronto’s best on Thursday – the fourth line with Dominic Moore, Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson, and the Tomas Plekanec-led checking line. For the second straight game, Plekanec showed a side of his game the Leafs hadn’t seen since he arrived just before the trade deadline. The veteran was fearless on every shift, and dominating the Bruins at times in the process. At one point in the first period, he picked up Brad Marchand in the Leafs’ end and tracked him all the way to the net, where he muscled the agitator into the cage behind Frederik Andersen. The shift in Plekanec from a fourth-line afterthought to an important role player has been seismic, and a major reason why the Leafs had the opportunity they did to win both games at home. In two games, the Plekanec line ceded just two points to Bergeron, Pasternak and Marchand after they combined for 20 points in the first two games.

So will Plekanec now have to shift back to the fourth line when Nazem Kadri returns Saturday from his three-game suspension? Or will Babcock opt to keep Plekanec up after his success in these last two games? Without last change on the road, Matthews’ line will likely be saddled primarily with Boston’s top-line matchup again, but the checking line could see some of them as well. With nothing left to lose, all eyes will be on Babcock once again as he makes his decision.