Pat Maroon, like several of his Bruins teammates, was in the visiting locker room at Amerant Bank Arena when David Pastrnak answered Matthew Tkachuk’s challenge and dropped the gloves in Game 2.
A heavyweight bout between two superstar talents capped off a pugnacious third period where the Bruins and Panthers combined for 136 penalty minutes and 12 total game misconducts on Wednesday night.
Maroon and other Bruins bruisers like Trent Frederic and Justin Brazeau were already sent to the showers by the officials by the time Pastrnak traded hooks with Tkachuk.
Considering the lack of reinforcements on Boston’s bench and the uneven tale of the tape against a power forward like Tkachuk, Maroon was impressed with Pastrnak’s willingness to stand up and fight.