WATCH: Frederic drops Pederson with only one punch in quick fight originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Bruins were not going to let Lane Pederson get away with cross-checking captain Patrice Bergeron up high in the second period of Thursday night’s game at TD Garden.
Despite making contact with Bergeron’s face using his stick, the Blue Jackets forward was given just a minor penalty. The call originally was a five-minute major penalty, but after a review it was reduced to two minutes.
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Later in the period, Bruins forward Trent Frederic came to Bergeron’s defense and fought Pederson. Frederic needed only one powerful punch to knock Pederson down to the ice.
This fight was Frederic’s seventh of the year, which is tied for the fifth-most among all players.
The Bruins have 23 fighting majors as a team this season, which is the 10th-most in the NHL. They were already a pretty tough team coming into the season, and then they added three physical players in Dmitry Orlov, Garnet Hathaway and Tyler Bertuzzi before the March 3 trade deadline.
The Bruins have plenty of guys capable of dropping their gloves and sending a message when appropriate. This team is not going to be pushed around.
