Chaotic end of Bruins-Panthers Game 2 sets stage for intense Game 3 originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
There seems to be a real dislike brewing between the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers, and that was especially evident during the final minutes of Wednesday night’s Game 2 at TD Garden.
The Panthers earned a 6-3 win to even the series, but not before these teams mixed it up and a couple fights broke out late in the third period
After Taylor Hall scored the Bruins’ third goal, a couple scrums broke out. Nick Foligno was in the middle of it.
And then in the final 15 seconds a couple more fights erupted. Tyler Bertuzzi and Nick Cousins, who have been going back-and-forth at each other all series, got tangled up. Trent Frederic also fought Ryan Lomberg without taking off his gloves.
There also was a somewhat controversial play in the third period when Bruins center Tomas Nosek threw a hit on Hurricanes center Eric Staal. The Panthers thought Nosek caught Staal’s head with an elbow.
There are a couple other angles of the play and it’s hard to see exactly how much contact was made. ESPN’s broadcast showed Nosek talking with players on the Panthers bench, including Staal and Matthew Tkachuk, shortly after the hit. It was a pretty intense conversation.
A hot mic actually picked up a good portion of it (watch here), and Nosek could be heard yelling at Staal, “Shut up, I barely touched you.”
The league’s Department of Player Safety has not yet, as of this writing, announced any further discipline for Nosek. He was not penalized on the play when it happened.
All of these skirmishes should create a pretty intense atmosphere in Friday night’s Game 3 at FLA Live Arena. The Panthers are feeling confident after stealing home ice advantage, and now it’s up to the Bruins to fight back and regain control of the series.
