Bruins win 2 without Bergeron and Krejci, push Panthers to brink
Linus Ullmark had enough of Matthew Tkachuk. The Panthers star was clearly trying to get under the Bruins' skin after whistles all game Sunday, but Ullmark wasn't about to take it when he came for him.
Late in the third period, with the Bruins leading 5-2 and cruising to a 3-1 series lead, Tkachuk bumped into Ullmark and then gave the Boston goalie a jab after the whistle.
Brandon Carlo and Derek Forbort came to Ullmark's defense and tackled Tkachuk to the ice, setting off a near-line brawl that resulted in 52 total penalty minutes. The highlight, however, came when Tkachuk got back to his feet.
Tkachuk went after Ullmark again, and Ullmark responded by challenging Tkachuk to a fight, dropping his glove and blocker to the ice and removing his helmet and everything.
The officials didn't let that happen, keeping Ullmark and Tkachuk separated. That's probably a good thing for Ullmark and the Bruins, all things considered. The last thing they need is their likely Vezina Trophy winner risking injury by stepping into the ring with an experienced pugilist.
Ullmark and Tkachuk were both assessed 10-minute misconducts. Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said after the game that they could have kept Ullmark in the game and had someone else serve the misconduct. They chose to remove Ullmark from the game anyways and replace him with Jeremy Swayman for the final three minutes, with Montgomery explaining that the Bruins just wanted to spare Ullmark from any more potential shenanigans.
"As a goalie, you're just expected to stop pucks. You're not expected to take stick work and someone coming after you," Montgomery said of the brawl. "So we stick together, and we stuck together. Really proud of our group how we stuck together there."
Ullmark was not available to the media after the game, with Bruins media relations saying he was receiving treatment. Ullmark is believed to be dealing with some sort of minor injury, but has played through it and started all four games in this series.
Near-fight aside, he was terrific in Sunday's 6-2 win. He stopped 41 of the 43 shots he faced to pick up his third win of the series, sending the Bruins back to Boston with a chance to close out Florida Wednesday night at TD Garden.
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