Boston Bruins right winger David Pastrnak and Panthers power forward Matthew Tkachuk dropped the gloves late in Wednesday's 6-1 win for Florida.
The final 10 minutes of Wednesday's Game 2 between the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers featured a flurry of misconduct penalties, including a rare fight for David Pastrnak against Matthew Tkachuk.
After referees already handed out 10 misconduct penalties to players on both teams in a heated third period, Pastrnak and Tkachuk were seen jawing at each other at center ice before heading to their benches.
Right as their next shift began, both players dropped the gloves.
It was Pastrnak's first-ever fight in the Stanley Cup playoffs and the second fighting major of his NHL career. His first came back in March 2018 when he and Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Dan Girardi went at it after Giradi hit Patrice Bergeron.
"He was asking me, so I felt like I had to step up," Pastrnak told reporters post-game. "The game was over, 6-1, so I gave it a go."
The 27-year-old also acknowledged his lack of experience with fisticuffs.
"I wish I approached it a little bit better, but like I said, I haven't been in many of those," he said.
Tkachuk, meanwhile, has now had five fighting majors in the playoffs. It was his first post-season fight in almost exactly two years, with his last one coming on May 7 against then-Dallas Stars defenseman John Klingberg.
"I'm not afraid of him, to be honest – I can take a punch, and I'd do anything for these guys here," Pastrnak said.
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said he liked what he saw from his forward in that situation.
"I'm proud of 'Pasta' because there's so many guys out there pushing after the whistle when the linesmen are there," Montgomery said. " 'Pasta' and Tkachuk, they just fought. That's what you like – you like your hockey players to be competitors.
After all that, the score remained 6-1 for the Florida Panthers, which evened the series at 1-1 after the Bruins won the first game 5-1.
All in all, officials handed out 158 penalty minutes in the game, including 10-minute misconduct penalties to Justin Brazeau and Dmitry Kulikov for their dance-off.
Game 3 goes down on Friday night at 7 p.m. ET at TD Garden in Boston.