Physical play kicks up a notch between Panthers and Bruins, highlighted by brawling stars
If one thing is clear after the first two games of this series, its that these teams do not like each other
The physical play between the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins sure seemed to kick up a notch during Game 2.
Florida bounced back from Monday’s defeat in a big way, taking down the Bruins 6-1 in a game that tilted more and more in the Panthers favor as it progressed.
During the third period, as Florida’s lead gradually but steadily grew, the pushing, shoving and ultimately fighting began to take center stage.
Officials ended up handing out a whopping 12 misconducts during the third period, and they all came within a span of 2:17 of game time.
Amid all this craziness, a couple of particular incidents seemed to stand above the rest once all was said and done.
The first came in the moments after Brandon Montour scored the final goal of the game.
Montour’s goal was shorthanded and it came with 8:02 remaining in the third period.
After scoring, Montour stood to the side of Boston’s goal crease with his arms extended out in both directions, and he stared directly at Brad Marchand while doing it.
When Marchand skated over and got in Montour’s face, Montour just looked into Marchand’s eyes and yelled ‘Wooooooooooo!’
You can probably guess how Marchand responded.
You may have noticed something Montour did toward the end of the scrum there.
In case you missed it:
I don't know about you, but seeing Montour trolling Marchand for his history with licking players instantly made me wonder what else Montour and Co. have up their sleeves.
Not long after all that happened, a disagreement on the ice between a pair of superstars led to what appeared to be a premeditated dropping of the gloves.
As all the skirmishes and dustups developed during that stretch of about 15 minutes of real time during the third period, Matthew Tkachuk and David Pastrnak came together, along with two officials, just outside the penalty boxes.
As the foursome skated across the ice to the benches, Tkachuk and Pastrnak continued to jaw at one another, to the point where they each apparently agreed to fight the next time they took the ice.
That’s exactly what happened, as Pastrnak and Tkachuk stepped on the ice and immediately began removing their gloves before meeting at center ice.
Tkachuk got the best of the Bruins scoring machine during the fight, including a couple late punches that really appeared to set off Pastrnak.
He went back at Tkachuk a second time after that happened, but at this point a pair of officials were trying to bear hug both players.
Here’s the thing…if the Bruins were trying to pull some intimidation tactic by getting into all these skirmishes with Florida once the game began getting out of reach, they should really check the tape.
That’s exactly what Florida did their entire playoff run, including late in the season when they needed every point they could.
Perhaps that’s why the Panthers appeared to be so unnerved as they exchanged facewashes and jersey tugs with their counterparts in white.
If nothing else, all these extracurricular activities set the stage for what should be a hell of a Game 3 on Friday night from Boston.
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