Bruins’ Jeremy Swayman challenges Matthew Tkachuk in physical first period
Matthew Tkachuk and Jeremy Swayman exchanged words during a testy first period of hockey on Sunday.
Just how off the rails is this second-round series between the Bruins and Panthers?
It took less than one period of play for Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman to challenge Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk to a scrap.
In the closing minutes of the first period of Game 4 at TD Garden, Swayman — never one to shirk away from conflict — swiped at Tkachuk as he skated past Boston’s net. Tkachuk turned to face Swayman and exchanged words with Boston’s netminder, with Swayman beckoning him closer with his glove.
Tkachuk and Swayman did not drop the gloves, as we all expected. But this is not the first time that Tkachuk has mixed it up with a Bruins goalie during playoff action.
Tkachuk — who also engaged in an all-out brouhaha with David Pastrnak in Game 2 down at Amerant Bank Arena — also got into a potential scrap with Linus Ullmark during last year’s first-round bout against the Panthers.
With Brad Marchand ruled out of Game 4 after getting punched by Sam Bennett on Friday night, the writing was on the wall that Sunday’s showdown on Causeway Street was going to feature plenty of bone-crunching hits.
Charlie McAvoy set the tone early once the puck was dropped, popping Panthers star winger Sam Reinhart with a heavy check just 14 seconds into the game.
McAvoy delivered the first blow against Florida, but veteran forward Pat Maroon tried to fire a shot across the bow during warmups by yelling at Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky at center ice.
As Sunday’s game progressed, Maroon challenged Sam Bennett, Tkachuk and several other Panthers before making his way back to Boston’s bench.
So far, Game 4 has been as advertised as far as the bad blood that’s been brewing between both Boston and Florida.
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