BOSTON — The go-ahead goal had already energized the Bruins, the fight put them over the top.
With Boston clinging to a 3-2 lead in the final seconds, Panthers forward Sam Bennett cross-checked Nikita Zadorov in the face with 3.3 seconds left.
There was no asking to fight in this spot. Zadorov grabbed Bennett and started swinging.
“I’m in front of the net, the guy crosscheck me in the face, I’ve got to step up for myself,” he said. “It was just a hockey moment. It wasn’t sending a message or anything like that. I play hard against any player. You can call it sending a message. That’s just my style.”
Zadorov wasn’t on the Bruins when Bennett sucker-punched Brad Marchand and gave him a concussion during the playoffs last year. And Marchand wasn’t on the Bruins Tuesday night.
But Bruins fans were Bruins fans then and now and while any fight ignites the crowd, seeing someone go after Bennett ignited the crowd to a level it hasn’t been at much this year.
“There’s always a game inside the game and you try to win those obviously,” Zadorov said. “There’s definitely history between these two teams. I wasn’t part of it. I’m just playing hard.
It wasn’t much of a fight. Zadorov has five inches in height on Bennett and land a couple of right hands before Bennett went down and Zadorov landed on top of him.
The crowd booed Bennett, who took a few shots at Zadorov when he was being restrained by the linesman, but Zadorov had no problem with it. He admitted he’d landed a few extra shots when Bennett was underneath him.
“It’s emotions. I was kind of pushing on him when he was laying down,” Zadorov said. “Don’t look too much into it. We’re both human beings. We both want to win. He’s a big competitor. I’m sure he didn’t mean anything.”
Zadorov shouted at Bennett and shouted to the crowd as he went to the bench.
“I haven’t been that fired up in a long time,” Mason Lohrei said. “That was unbelievable.”
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