McQuaid punches in for work
It is clear that the NHL is trying to phase out fighting, but every now and then a bare knuckle beef is allowed to play out on the ice.
And in last night’s 6-5 Bruins loss at the Garden, an epic, bigboy brawl went down between
Adam McQuaid and the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Matt Martin after Martin objected to a McQuaid check on rookie star Auston Matthews.
McQuaid goes 6-foot-4, 212 pounds and Martin is 6-3, 220. The combatants threw and received several big shots, but McQuaid emerged victorious eventually, first bloodying Martin over the left ear before knocking him to the ice with a straight right hand.
Martin went for repairs, and presumably into the concussion protocol, but was able to return.
McQuaid is never one to beat his chest after a fight at any time, but especially not after losing such a tough game. But several teammates and his coach pointed to the fight as a catalyst for the B’s comeback that eventually tied the game at 4-4 and 5-5.
“McQuaid stood up and woke up some of our guys with that scrap,” coach Claude Julien said. “It’s seemed to give us some life.”
Said Patrice Bergeron: “It was obviously an amazing fight by both guys. They were really going at it. They’re both very honest players for their teams and Adam, I’ve said it before, has always been a huge influence on a lot of guys. He’s very quiet, but he always works hard and goes about his business and stands up for his teammates. Right there, that gave us a lot of energy.”
Though Martin picked the fight, Toronto coach Mike Babcock took issue with it. “I don’t like the situation,” Babcock said. “McQuaid’s a tough kid, (Martin’s) a tough kid. McQuaid’s got a visor and helmet, (Martin’s) got no visor. I don’t like the scenario but that’s just the way it is. To me, it’s not fair. But Matty’s a good teammate and does a lot for or young guys and it’s good he’s OK.”
Bergeron’s back in
When Bergeron blocked a shot on in the third period of Wednesday’s loss in Washington and needed assistance to get off the ice and down the runway, it looked like the B’s were going to be experiencing life without their top all-around player for a while. But after missing most of that third period, Bergeron needed just a couple days of rest before getting back in action last night.
Consider it a case of a dodged bullet.
“Yeah, that’s probably a fair assessment, with the way I felt that night and the way I feel now, I definitely dodged a bullet in some way,” Bergeron said after the morning skate at Warrior Ice Arena. “(The shot) got me on the side, so right on the bone and obviously there’s no protection there, so it was probably the one spot I was hoping not to get it. It happened so fast that it’s hard to know where it’s going to hit you.”
Bergeron said it took awhile to get going against the Maple Leafs, but eventually felt good. He had a goal and two assists, and was plus-1, in 21:08.
Power’s on
The B’s went 2-for-5 on the power play and have scored on the man-advantage in each of the last five games. In the last 15 games, the power play is clicking at 31.4 percent (16-for-51). . . .
Julien moved around some deck chairs up front, sitting Jimmy Hayes and dressing Austin Czarnik, who was minus-2. . . . David Backes’ struggles continue. He was again minus-2 and is minus-12 in his last 11 games. . . . Matt Beleskey landed no shots on net in 12:36 and finished at minus-1. . . . Tim Schaller played a team-low 6:44, with no shots on net.