Bruins Notes: How Teammate Reacted To Nikita Zadorov Fighting Boston Villain

There’s no love lost whenever the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers meet on the ice.

And Tuesday night’s battle between the two teams was further evidence of that.

The rivals got into plenty of scuffles after the whistles in Boston’s thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 win at TD Garden. And all the testy moments culminated in a heated fight between Nikita Zadorov and Bruins villain Sam Bennett with 3.3 seconds left in the contest.

Zadorov and Bennett dropped the gloves right in front of the Bruins net after the puck caromed out of play. The imposing 6-foot-6, 248-pound Zadorov got in several punches on the Panthers forward before the two fell to the ice.

But that wasn’t the end of the festivities.

After an official pulled Zadorov off Bennett and had the Bruins defenseman pinned to the side of the net, Bennett tried to get in a couple of more shots. The two were finally separated, but Zadorov’s emotions poured of him as he made his way to the bench. He continued to bark at Bennett, which sent Bruins fans into a frenzy.

The fight obviously got the intended response. Not only from the raucous crowd, but from Zadorov’s teammates, too.

“I haven’t been that fired up in a long time. That was unbelievable,” Bruins defenseman Mason Lohrei told reporters, per NESN postgame coverage. “He does so much for us. I mean, right before that he saved a goal … and we all know what happened after that. So, I love watching him play, as I’m sure all you guys do, too.”

Bennett’s history with the Bruins will seemingly always make him an enemy in Boston. Bennett was at the center of a controversial hit on Brad Marchand in last year’s playoff series when he seemed to purposely clock the former Bruins captain in the head. Marchand missed two games, revealing he sustained a concussion.

But Bennett’s status wasn’t the reason Zadorov, who assisted on Pavel Zacha’s game-winning goal as the Bruins scored three unanswered tallies in the final frame, decided to throw down.

“I’m just playing hard,” Zadorov told reporters, per NESN postgame coverage. “I’m in front of the net, the guy crosschecks in the face. I got to step up for myself. It was just a heart moment over there. I wasn’t really thinking to send a message or anything like this. I play hard against any player in the league. So, you can call it sending a message, but just my style.”

Here are more notes from Tuesday’s Bruins-Panthers game:

— Marchand returned to Boston and participated in the Panthers’ morning skate, but he did not take the ice to face his former team as he’s still recovering from an upper-body injury. Marchand’s tribute video moment will have to wait until next season, unless the soon-to-be free agent rejoins the Bruins, which Marchand didn’t rule out.

— It’s only been two games, but Casey Mittelstadt has made a good first impression with the Bruins. The 26-year-old center notched his second assist in as many games when he made a terrific feed from the corner to a wide open David Pastrnak, who extended his home point streak to 13 games, in front of the net.

— Jeremy Swayman’s night got off to a rough start when he allowed a goal he’d probably want back to Dmitry Kulikov. But Swayman rebounded and came through with 10 key saves in the third period. Swayman stopped 24-of-26 shots in total.

— Lohrei continued to show his potential as he netted the game-tying goal with 6:09 left in the third period. Lohrei now has a career-high five goals on the season and has 16 games to add to that mark.

— The Bruins will hit the road for a quick trip to Ottawa to face the Senators on Thursday. Puck drop from Canadian Tire Centre is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.