Bruins

David Pastrnak’s brawl with Matthew Tkachuk caps third-period slugfest between Bruins, Panthers

“I’m not afraid of him, to be honest. I can take a punch."

By Conor Ryan

May 9, 2024

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SUNRISE, Fla. — David Pastrnak’s hands are best utilized when the 27-year-old winger is dangling past skaters or uncorking one-timers from the left circle. 

As for throwing haymakers? It’s far from Pastrnak’s forte. 

But after Panthers wing Matthew Tkachuk challenged him in the waning minutes of Wednesday’s Game 2 matchup, Pastrnak did not hesitate. 

It was far from an even fight, given Tkachuk’s pugnacious reputation. While Pastrnak had just one career fight on his resume entering Wednesday night, the Panthers power forward has 20 fights during regular-season action. 

But Pastrnak had few regrets over his scrap with Tkachuk, even if one of his opponent’s right jabs popped the Bruins’ forward’s bucket off his head. 

With few positives to be gleaned from Wednesday’s 6-1 loss to Florida, Pastrnak tried to set the tone for Friday’s Game 3 rematch — and the rest of a second-round series that’s already brewing with plenty of bad blood. 

“You are in the game. There’s a lot of emotions,” Pastrnak said of his third-period fight. “I’m not afraid of him, to be honest. I can take a punch. I’d do anything for these guys here.”

The scrap between two of hockey’s top talents punctuated a night where the Bruins and Panthers teamed up for a whopping 158 penalty minutes and 12 total game misconducts. 

“You’re going to see that on the highlights over and over and over again,” Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “I think it’s a good thing. You have two elite offensive players. Chucky’s a 100-point guy all day long. 

“Pastrnak’s just this brilliant player. It’s the playoffs. They each have their team. They got their brothers in their room. It’s a little spicy out there. I think it’s awesome. When it was over, they both looked like they were fine. Sorry for whoever’s offended by that concept. I don’t care. I thought it was awesome. Like, good on both of them.”

For Tkachuk, a decisive win over Boston’s top playmaking talent served as the emphatic stamp on a dominant win for the Panthers.

For Pastrnak, it was both an avenue to vent frustrations over a lopsided loss — and send a message that this roster is not going to be easily pushed around when the temperature rises in this series. 

“I’m proud of Pasta,” Jim Montgomery said. “There’s so many guys out there, pushing after the whistle when the linesmen are there. Pasta and Tkachuk, they just went out there and fought. That’s what you like. You like your hockey players to be competitors.”

Pastrnak was far from the only player sent to the showers early at Amerant Bank Arena on Wednesday. 

Pat Maroon and Nick Cousins sparked a third period filled with chaos after both skaters were tossed from the game at 10:25. Just 38 seconds later, a full line brawl led to Justin Brazeau, Trent Frederic, Dmitry Kulikov, and Eetu Luostarinen getting shown the door. 

After Panthers blueliner Brandon Montour capped the scoring with a shorthanded goal at 11:58, he directed his screams of triumph right into Brad Marchand’s face.

As expected, Boston’s captain didn’t take too kindly to Montour’s exuberance. Marchand was sent off for his fight with Montour, with the Panthers defenseman mocking Marchand by sticking out his tongue at him — a clear reference to Marchand’s licking incident with Ryan Callahan in 2018. 

Marchand was in the locker room when Pastrnak dropped the gloves with Tkachuk less than a minute later. But he was impressed by his teammate’s response against a tougher foe. 

“You don’t see that often,” Marchand said. “It’s great for him to step up. I mean, he doesn’t fight often. He’s actually pretty tough. But you don’t want to see a guy like that get hurt. So hopefully he didn’t. When guys go down, they can blow out shoulders and hurt hands and all that. So great job by him stepping up.”

The Stanley Cup Playoffs naturally draws out vitriol and snarl over the course of a seven-game series. But the Bruins and Panthers were already on bellicose terms entering this playoff showdown.

The Bruins are still steaming over last year’s first-round exit at the hands of Tkachuk and the Panthers. Florida is at its best when they’re throwing their weight around and pestering opponents after the whistle. 

Wednesday’s fight night at Amerant Bank Arena ratched up the intensity of this series. But it won’t be the end of said hostilities — not in the slightest. 

“I think we’re built a little different this year, probably in a little bit better position to push back physically,” Marchand said of this Bruins roster. “You can see that we’re a little bit bigger throughout the lineup and a little more physical. That’s what they bring every night. So we gotta keep going.”