OK, fair enough. So if Pasta sold it a bit (and lets be honest when did Leo just give a love tap stick work? That is not how he rolls - he’s a cheapie through and through, always has been) I can understand why he might have done it.
Two games before playoff starts, Leo decides to skate by a motionless Pasta and jab or butt end him after the play is over. Take your pick. No scrum, no tussle, no nothing. Just a drive by stick foul on one of Boston’s key playoff pieces. And, no, Pasta is not a chippy player so not a payback situation.
Add to that Leo will NOT drop the gloves to answer for it. So maybe Pasta was a bit hurt, maybe a good stinger to the rib or gut, winded, maybe not at all.. Who knows?
Either way IF he sold it a little or a lot, I can certainly see why he’d want the refs to see and react to what was nothing but a cheap and very greasy POS move after the whistle had long gone.
It’s not like the Bruins haven’t had more than their share of injuries this season stemming from cheap shots.
And lets be real. Whatever Pasta did, it was by no means the worst example of this year. No worse than Barzal’s, no worse than Crosby’s face off histrionics earlier this season (shot by a high powered rifle from upper decks apparently), etc, etc.