Like everyone else on and around the Bruins, Pat Maroon loved seeing David Pastrnak drop the gloves with Matthew Tkachuk in the third period of Game 2.
“I like the idea of them fighting. Pasta did a good job. That's what leaders do,” Maroon said after Friday’s morning skate ahead of Game 3. “He stood up for our team, he took charge. You gotta love that kind of stuff out of your leader, and he's fighting another skill player.”
There was one part of the fight Maroon did not love, though, and that was Tkachuk throwing a couple extra punches at Pastrnak after Pastrnak was already down on the ice, with two officials jumping in.
The 36-year-old Maroon has been through 89 NHL fights himself, according to hockeyfights.com. He understands the “code” that all fighters are supposed to live by, and believes Tkachuk violated it.
“Obviously I didn’t like how he hit him on the ground twice. I think that’s dirty,” Maroon said. “…I don't like the aftermath of it. So, we know that part, right?”
Maroon’s comments hint at some revenge coming Tkachuk’s way, but Maroon acknowledged that he and the Bruins need to be smart about that. He noted that he won’t be matching up much against Tkachuk himself, and believes Tkachuk wouldn’t fight him anyways.
“Tkachuk’s not gonna fight me,” Maroon said. “So, if I go out there and take a dumb penalty, they get a power play, my job’s not accomplished, right? So, you can’t look at it like that. You just have to take numbers. … Listen, I probably never play against Tkachuk anyways, so let’s be realistic here.”
To that point, Maroon and Tkachuk have been on the ice at the same time for just 4:25 through the first two games of this series. In Boston, with the Bruins having last change, Jim Montgomery can probably keep his fourth line away from Tkachuk completely… unless he wants to get Maroon out against him for a shift here or there to send some sort of message. That would risk an unfavorable matchup, however.
By the time Pastrnak and Tkachuk fought in Game 2, Maroon had already been sent off with a 10-minute misconduct from an earlier altercation with Nick Cousins. A total of 12 players -- six on each side -- were sent to their respective rooms early with misconducts. There were no suspensions or fines resulting from any of it.
Beyond the Tkachuk part of all this, Maroon wants to see the Bruins play “pissed off” in general after Game 2, a game they lost 6-1.
“I think we should be pissed off, for sure,” Maroon said. “I think, especially about our game too, though, I think most importantly. All the other stuff, whatever, the scrums, them yelling in our face after they scored, it's over, it's done with.
“We just gotta be mad here and play with intensity, play the way we're supposed to be playing. We’re winning our battles, we're doing the same thing, we're hitting, we're playing a simple brand of hockey that we want to play, we're in their face, and we just gotta continue. Obviously the stuff that happened, we know what happened and that stays in this locker room.”
Lineup changes expected for Game 3
It looks like Maroon will have a new linemate for Friday night’s Game 3, as it appears Jakub Lauko will draw into the lineup for his series debut alongside Maroon and Johnny Beecher on the fourth line.
Usual fourth-line center Jesper Boqvist did not skate with the main group Friday morning, instead skating with Matt Grzelcyk and Matt Poitras before the rest of the team. Coach Jim Montgomery said that was due to a miscommunication – Boqvist was actually supposed to skate with the main group – but did say that there would be a change up front. That suggests that Boqvist is out, regardless of when he skated or was supposed to skate.
Danton Heinen was on the ice for morning skate, but Montgomery said he is still “day-to-day” with an undisclosed injury. Heinen stayed out late with the other projected scratches, suggesting that he is not yet an option to play.
The other projected scratches who stayed out late were Parker Wotherspoon and Kevin Shattenkirk. That’s because Andrew Peeke, who suffered a hand injury in Game 2 of the Toronto series, has been cleared to play and is expected to re-enter the lineup Friday night.
It looks like Peeke will slot in with Derek Forbort on the third defense pair, which is interesting given that the two have never played together. Forbort was out injured when Boston acquired Peeke, and Peeke was out when Forbort made his return for the first two games of this series.
Peeke did play a lot with Wotherspoon, and the two of them were very good in the Bruins’ final regular-season game against the Panthers, including in some important minutes against Tkachuk. It’s a little surprising that Montgomery isn’t giving that another look – at least not yet – and is instead opting to keep Forbort in over Wotherspoon.
Linus Ullmark also stayed on the ice late, indicating that Jeremy Swayman will be back in net to start Game 3.
Here is the Bruins’ expected Game 3 lineup:
Brad Marchand - Charlie Coyle - Jake DeBrusk
Pavel Zacha - Morgan Geekie - David Pastrnak
James van Riemsdyk - Trent Frederic - Justin Brazeau
Jakub Lauko - Johnny Beecher - Pat Maroon
Mason Lohrei - Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm - Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort - Andrew Peeke
Jeremy Swayman
Linus Ullmark
For the Panthers, Sam Bennett was on the ice for morning skate, will take warmups before Game 3, and will play if feels good after warmups. Florida's No. 2 center has been out since suffering a hand injury in Game 2 of the first round.