BOSTON — It takes a lot to make Chris Kelly fight. The Bruins winger had played in 775 games in his 11-year NHL career entering Thursday and dropped the gloves a mere six times.
Kelly added another bout to that list against the Chicago Blackhawks, however.
Midway through the third period, a brilliant rush by Milan Lucic set up a Torey Krug goal that cut Chicago’s advantage to one. Lucic did the bulk of the legwork on the tally, but he was leveled into the boards by Blackhawks winger Andrew Shaw after feeding the puck to Krug.
The late hit, coupled with Shaw’s decision to stand over Lucic after knocking him to the ice, pushed the Bruins over the edge. A scrum ensued, with Kelly ultimately being the one to hand Shaw his payback.
It was an impressive showing from Kelly, who never had the chance to get his left glove off but peppered Shaw with a series of hard rights.
“There’s a reason why he’s got an ‘A’ on his jersey,” Lucic said of the Bruins alternate captain. “He’s going to step up for his teammates when the time is right. You’ve seen him do it in the past, and you saw it here (Thursday). He’s the type of guy that you want on your team, that you know has always got your back.”
The scrap gave the Bruins a late shot of adrenaline, but it ultimately came in a losing effort. They were unable to push another shot past Blackhawks netminder Scott Darling, who finished with 32 saves in a 3-2 victory that extended Chicago’s winning streak to eight games.
GIF via @myregularface
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