Pastrnak drops the gloves with Tkachuk after ducking Knies in Round 1

David Pastrnak's temper finally boiled over in Game 2 against the Panthers after he got into a fight with Matthew Tkachuk during their blowout loss.

Pastrnak and the Boston Bruins were treated to an inhospitable welcome at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, as the Panthers handily defeated them by a score of 6-1. Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart each recorded 4 points, Jeremy Swayman was pulled, and Linus Ullmark didn't look any better but the talking point was a third period that included 12 misconduct penalties and a scrappy fight between each team's best player.

It started after Nick Cousins and Patrick Maroon were each handed a 10-minute misconduct penalty in the third period with the latter also receiving a roughing minor that Florida scored on just 27 seconds later. That gave them a commanding 5-1 lead, which then opened the floodgates for complete chaos. Between the 11:03 mark and the 12:42 mark there were 10 misconducts handed out, 1 fight, and an additional minor penalty.

Pastrnak's willingness to fight Tkachuk was surprising for a variety of reasons but it was quite evident who the victor was.



Pastrnak has had an uncharacteristic start to his post-season with just 3 goals and 6 points in 9 games but he was responsible for the Bruins' biggest goal to date, which was the overtime winner in Game 7 against Toronto.

Even in that series, the Czech-native got into it a few times with Matthew Knies but he never dropped the gloves. In Game 5 of the first round, Knies was seen engaging and sarcastically laughing at Pastrnak after the whistle was blown. After the game, Knies said he was going after the goal-scoring phenom because he went after Morgan Rielly. Seemed like Pastrnak wanted nothing to do with Knies:

"He's going after our best defenseman and I just don't like to see that. I don't want Mo to get into interactions like that. I need him to focus on the game and helping us win," Knies told reporters, including TSN's Mark Masters."


After a comprehensive victory in Game 1, the Bruins were brought back down to earth. However with the series now tied, they will look to take control on Friday night when they shift venues and play at the TD Garden.