Bruins coach’s ‘proud’ reaction to David Pastrnak-Matthew Tkachuk brawl

Boston and Florida certainly weren’t exchanging friendly banter during the third period. Believe it or not, the first penalty of the third period didn’t occur until the midway point. Bruins forward Pat Maroon was called for roughing and he received a game misconduct. Panthers forward Nick Cousins also received a misconduct at this time.

At 11:03 of the third period, things broke down. Florida rearguard Oliver Ekman-Larsson earned a cross-checking penalty. Another altercation broke out between the two teams. In the end, five players — two from Florida and three from Boston — were given game misconducts. At 11:58, another brawl broke out after the Panthers made it 6-1. This brawl led to another four misconducts.

At 12:42, Matthew Tkachuk and David Pastrnak dropped the gloves. Jim Montgomery and his team looked on as the two superstar forwards took their shots. They both eventually fell to the ice, but Pastrnak got back up. He proceeded to throw a few more punches at the Panthers forward while referees held him to the ice. Both players received a misconduct after the fight.

David Pastrnak, others react

David Pastrnak spoke with the media after his fight in Game 2 with Matthew Tkachuk. Inevitably, he was questioned on the fight in the third period. The Bruins superstar provided a rather straightforward answer in regards to his decision to drop the gloves on Wednesday night.

“It’s a lot of emotions. I mean, I’m not afraid of him, to be honest,” the Bruins superstar said of his fight, via BruinsDaily. “I can take a puch and I’d do anything for these guys (in the locker room).”

Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky was also asked about the scrap. He commended both parties for agreeing to throw hands when they did. “A great fight. Two leaders going against each other. It’s good for the game, for sure,” he said, via Panthers senior digital content manager Jameson Olive.

Florida bench boss Paul Maurice is always one to give an interesting perspective. Regarding Game 2, however, he kept his thoughts on everything rather to the point. “If you paid money to come to the rink tonight, you had a hell of a night,” he said, via Olive.

Whether David Pastrnak and Matthew Tkachuk drop the gloves again remains to be seen. However, the Panthers and Bruins are certainly putting on a show for fans. And fans will definitely want to tune into Game 3 on Friday when these teams fight to take a 2-1 lead in the series.