In a Stanley Cup playoff game between the Boston Bruins and the Florida Panthers that featured as many as 7 goals, that figure paled compared to the numbers related to fights, scrums, penalties, misconduct, and all other sorts of extracurricular activities.
If Game 2 had been a boxing event instead of a hockey contest, the card would have been headlined by a heavyweight fight between Bruins’ David Pastrnak and Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk, who exchanged punches in the third period.
With the score already 6-1 in favor of the Panthers and Game 2 virtually over, Pastrnak and Tkachuk dropped the gloves in a pre-arranged fight moments earlier.
It was a rather bizarre fight considering the two players involved in it. Pastrnak had only one prior fight on his resume while Tkachuk boasts an extended list of bouts, according to Hockey Fights.
“You’re in the games, it’s a lot of emotions,” Pastrnak told reporters after the Game 2 loss, via NHL’s Amalie Benjamin. “I’m not afraid of [Tkachuk], to be honest.
“I can take a punch and I’d do anything for these guys here.”
David Pastrnak & Matthew Tkachuk Agreed to Fight Each Other
The fight between Pastrnak and Tkachuk didn’t come out of the blue; far from it.
As shown and discussed during the broadcast of the game, via Sportsnet, both players discussed their plans beforehand, let the officials know what was about to happen, and in the case of Pastrnak, he even got approval from his head coach, Jim Montgomery, on the bench.
“I thought our team was emotionally engaged,” Montgomery told reporters in his postgame press conference on May 8. “A little undisciplined, but that’s part of playoff hockey.
“I’m really proud of [Pastrnak]. He just went out there and fought. You like your hockey players to be competitors.”
One thing Montgomery didn’t like, however, was Tkachuk’s blows on Pastrnak once the fight was (seemingly) over. “That’s not part of the game to me,” Montgomery said.
“It gets a little spicy out there and they wanted to go,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice told reporters after the game. “I thought it was awesome.
“When it was over, they both looked like they were fine. Sorry if anyone’s offended by that concept. I don’t care. I thought it was awesome.”
Brawls, Misconduct Penalties & A Little Bit of Everything
If only had that Pastrnak vs. Tkachuk fight happened on Wednesday…
In the third period of Game 2 alone, the officials handed out 146 penalty minutes. Throughout the game, both teams combined for a staggering 158 penalty minutes.
The Bruins finished Game 2 with 87 penalty minutes, the most for the franchise in a single postseason game since 1988. The Panthers racked up 71 themselves, the second-most in franchise history.
The Bruins’ tally includes a 10-minute misconduct earned by Boston’s Pat Maroon. It removed him from the game entirely as there was no material time left on the clock for him to complete the penalty and return.
A brawl erupted with a little under nine minutes left in the game before Florida scored its sixth and final goal of the eventual 6-1 victory on Wednesday.
A final scrum involving many players from both sides and leading to the fight between Pastrnak and Tkachuk took place after Florida’s final goal, with around eight minutes left to play.
Bruins Lose Game 2, Panthers Tie Series at 1-1
Although the Bruins took an early lead just 12 minutes into Game 2 when Charlie Coyle put the puck inside of the Panthers’ net to give Boston a 1-0 advantage, things only went south for the Bruins from that point on.
After the first period, Florida dominated Boston from top to bottom. The Panthers scored six unanswered goals and peppered two Bruins’ goaltenders with shots.
Aleksander Barkov scored a brace and got 2 assists, Sam Reinhart bagged 4 assists, Brandon Montour went for a goal and 2 dimes, and the trio of Steven Lorentz, Gustav Forsling and Eetu Luostarinen also added 1 goal each to Florida’s tally on Wednesday.
After allowing four goals, Bruins’ Montgomery pulled starting goalie Jeremy Swayman and introduced backup Linus Ullmark, who allowed two more goals to the Panthers. Ullmark finished with 8 saves on 10 shots to Swayman’s 19 saves on 23. For context, Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky made 14 saves on 15 shots across the full three periods of play.
“If you paid money to come to the rink tonight, you had a hell of a night,” Panthers head coach Maurice said after the 6-1 win.
Game 3 between the Bruins and the Panthers is scheduled for Friday, May 10, with the series tied at 1-1 and heading to Boston for the next two contests of the second-round matchup.
