Boston Bruins forward Pat Maroon did not like what he saw from Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk in his fight with David Pastrnak.
BOSTON -- David Pastrnak and Matthew Tkachuk are two of the biggest names in the Eastern Conference Second Round series between the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers. Amid a heated Game 2 smackdown on Wednesday that saw the Panthers cruise to a 6-1 win and tie the series 1-1, the two star forwards dropped the gloves.
With Game 3 in Boston on Friday, all eyes will be on how each team responds. One Bruins player in particular had his thoughts on the situation, which he shared on Friday morning.
"It's two skill guys fighting," Pat Maroon said. "Tkachuk's not gonna fight me, so if I go out there and take a dumb penalty and they get a power play, like my job's not accomplished.
"Obviously I didn't like how he hit him on the ground twice. I think that's dirty. I like the idea of them fighting. I think 'Pasta' did a good job, that's what leaders do. He stood up for the team, he took charge. You gotta love that kind of stuff, right?"
In their bout, Tkachuk appeared to get some extra punches in after Pastrnak was already on the ground, which Maroon was referring to. However, Panthers coach Paul Maurice believes Tkachuk didn't cross the line.
"No, I don't," Maurice said on Friday. "Did you guys see it more than once? Sometimes you don't, right? Sometimes you see a play and you see it once and it's either not important to talk about or it's not exciting, and I get that, but if you watch it, like, a bunch of times, I would say my answer would be 'no.'"
Tkachuk is not facing any more discipline -- beyond the game misconduct he received along with Pastrnak at the time -- and the two teams will move forward in the series. Although just because Maroon doesn't anticipate settling the score with Tkachuk himself doesn't mean we won't see more heated moments.
For Bruins coach Jim Montgomery, he feels the escalated tensions are "natural" given the recent history between the two clubs.
"With rivalry comes a little bit of hatred," Montgomery said. "But I don't think it's hate. I think it's competitiveness to move on."
No matter what happens in the aftermath of the Tkachuk-Pastrnak fight, it's guaranteed to be "competitive."
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