Maple Leafs' Craig Berube sounds off on Artem Zub’s hit aimed at John Tavares - "Looked like a head shot"

Toronto Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube was unhappy with Artem Zub’s hit on John Tavares. The hit happened during overtime in Game 4 against the Ottawa Senators. Tavares was skating near the net when Zub’s elbow or shoulder hit him.

Tavares fell to the ice and got up slowly. He left for the dressing room but later came back to the game.

Berube made his feelings clear when asked about the hit on Tavares.

"I don't like the hit," Berube said. "Puck is nowhere near him. Looked like a head shot to me."

Zub was not penalized for the play, and the NHL also decided not to give extra punishment later.

Tavares was pulled off the ice by a concussion spotter. He missed the whole four-minute power play in overtime. He came back to the bench around 11 minutes into overtime. Ottawa scored shortly after, and the Leafs lost 4-3.

Maple Leafs star forward Mitch Marner, the only Leafs player to reach the 100-point mark in the regular season, also talked about the hit.

"You're interested to see why nothing gets called on that, but that's sometimes how the play goes," Marner said, via The Hockey News. "Lucky enough, Johnny's fine and good to go. That's all that matters."

Mitch Marner is leading the Leafs with seven points in the postseason. He has scored one goal and six assists and is playing important minutes on the Leafs' top line alongside Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies.

Forward John Tavares' comments on the hit

The hit on John Tavares is concerning for the Leafs because he leads the Leafs in goals and is tied with forward Matthew Knies. He also talked to the media the next day and mentioned that the puck was nowhere near him when he got hit.

"I don’t think I really need to explain it. I think pretty obvious what happened on the play. Pretty obvious what happened on the play," Tavares said on Monday.

"Puck’s nowhere near me. But just move on from it. Go out there and keep competing and trust that the refs are going to make the right calls."

John Tavares practiced on Monday and said he felt good, with only a little soreness in his jaw and cheek. Game 5 will be on Tuesday night in Toronto, and the Leafs will try to close the series.