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P.K. Subban believes referees made right call for slash on Stone

Montreal Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban spoke to the media for the first time Thursday afternoon following his controversial slash to Ottawa Senators forward Mark Stone in the first game of their NHL playoff series on Wednesday night.

It was revealed Thursday that Stone suffered a microfracture to his wrist and that Subban would not be receiving any supplemental discipline.

The 25-year-old regretted that the play overshadowed his teammates' accomplishments in the game, particularly the fourth line, which stepped up and was a huge factor in the 4-3 victory.

However, he ultimately agreed that the referee made the correct call in issuing him a five-minute major and a game misconduct for the slash.

"The ref made the right call," Subban said. "When you see a player down on the ice rolling around like that, there's one call to be made. He made the right call. If I was in that position, I'd probably do the same thing," he added.

"I didn't look to see where I was going to slash him. I just kind of came down on him and I tried to play hard in front of the net. Obviously it's something I can't do. I don't want to be taking that penalty. As far as targeting anybody, I'm not out there doing that. If anything, a lot of times I feel like I'm the target. It's just a tough play for me."

Subban adamantly denied that he made multiple threats to Stone and insisted that he was not pursued following faceoffs.

"No. I play tough against everybody out there. I don't ever remember targeting him or saying anything like that to him," he said.

In addressing Dave Cameron's post-game comments, in which the Ottawa coach suggested Subban should be suspended or the Senators may seek retribution, Subban said that he is close to Cameron and that he has nothing but respect for him.

"He's got to do what he has to do for his team and I got to do the same for mine."

He told reporters that he was not planning to reach out to Stone.