Late hit from Montour triggers line brawl after Leafs' Game 4 win

The Leafs held on by the skin of their teeth to avoid an embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Florida Panthers on Wednesday. While I'm happy to see them get the win, I wonder where this effort was through the first 3 games. Of course, the Panthers being the Panthers, they didn't take the loss well.

At the final buzzer, Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour decided to take a run at Morgan Rielly. Montour's mistake was forgetting who was on the ice for the Leafs. Noel Acciari and Jake McCabe immediately came to Rielly's defense. This drew a crowd that included noted cheap shot artist Sam Bennett. Bennett can be seen leaping on top of the pile, then throwing punch after punch into the face of Jake McCabe, who was pinned under the pile. Mitch Marner wound up in a grappling match with Matthew Tkachuk, but was rescued by the referee before the biggest rat in Florida could inflict any damage. Tkachuk did land a couple of clean punches to the face of Marner as the scrum had begun to wind down.


Clearly, losing the game didn't sit well with the Panthers. The late hit and cheap punches don't prove the Panthers are tough though. In fact, it makes them look like a bunch of sore losers without an ounce of sportsmanship or respect for their opponents. Of course, the Leafs had the last laugh in this one, walking away with a well deserved victory. They're still down 3-1 in the series, but that hole they've dug themselves isn't quite so deep now. Expect more of this behaviour from the Panthers in Game 5.