Report: NHL told Bruins to tell Brad Marchand to stop licking people

The Bruins have received phone calls about Brad Marchand long before he licked Maple Leafs forward Leo Komarov.

But the NHL came to the Bruins with a different request -- and one they probably thought they'd never have to make -- in regards to Marchand's antics following Game 1 of Boston's first-round series against the Maple Leafs, per Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman's latest 31 Thoughts column.

"After Game 1 of the Toronto/Boston series, the Bruins got a, 'We’d prefer if you could tell Brad Marchand to stop licking people' phone call from the NHL," Friedman wrote.

“He kept coming after me after whistles and stuff like that every time he was going to the bench," Marchand said following Game 1 when asked about his decision to lick Komarov's face. "I just thought that if he wanted to keep touching me and that we were going to get a little closer, then he might want to.

"He keeps trying to get close to me. I don’t know if he’s got a thing for me or what. But he’s cute."

The soundbites continued through the weekend, too, with Marchand at one point mentioning that he had bad breath and probably needed some Mentos. And it was also the last we heard of Komarov, who proved ineffective at slowing Marchand and the Patrice Bergeron line down, as he ultimately finished this seven-game series as a healthy scratch.

The Game 1 Lick was not the first moment shared by Marchand and Komarov this season, by the way, as Marchand gave him a smooch on the cheek during a post-whistle tie-up early in the regular season.

Good news for the next person Marchand licks: He left TD Garden with an eight-pack of Mentos in hand Wednesday.

Update: For what it's worth, Marchand has since disputed Friedman's report, taking to Twitter to say that it's false.