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Brandon Prust rips official Brad Watson for alleged on-ice comments

MONTREAL, QC - MAY 03: Brandon Prust #8 of the Montreal Canadiens fights with Braydon Coburn #55 of the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals during the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell Centre on May 03, 2015 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHL via Getty images)

Brandon Prust might as well just write the NHL a blank check (or cheque) now because he's about to be out of some money.

Following Montreal's 6-2 loss to Tampa Bay, the excitable forward was quite vocal in his criticism of veteran referee Brad Watson, and the way the official reacted to Prust's actions in the final two minutes of the game.

With the game clearly out of hand, Prust had a run in with Tampa goalie Ben Bishop. For this, Prust had to answer to Lightning defenseman Braydon Coburn for his behavior.

Then Prust began a downward spiral that's likely to cost him a good chunk of money, and possibly some playoff games.

From Sportsnet:

In a span of a few minutes on the ice, Prust earned 27 penalty minutes; on top of the fighting major, he was given a 10-minute game misconduct, a 2-minute tripping minor, and a 10-minute misconduct.

This wasn't the end of it for Prust. In the post-game scrum, he unleashed on referee Brad Watson.

From Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star:

@Bruce_Arthur
@Bruce_Arthur

Oof.

He's in two kinds of trouble with the NHL, and it will be looked at by someone other than the folks at the Department of Player Safety. Per Bob McKenzie:

Eric Engels covers the Canadiens for Sportsnet. He added some further insight into the situation.

Microphones all over the place, eh? That tape can't be flattering for most guys on the ice, let alone Prust and Watson. (I would pay extra to get that feed on GameCenter Live...)

Food for thought: referees are not angels, that's a given. However, they take a lot of abuse from players and coaches during a game. If the referee is over taking crap from mouthy players, is he not allowed to standup for himself? If it's unprovoked, it's a problem. If it's done in a manner to deliberately impact the outcome of a game, it's a problem.

We'll keep you posted as the story inevitably develops in the Canadian market.

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Jen Neale is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter!