John Moore is not the first guy you think of when listing the Boston Bruins’ known fighters. However, the 30-year-old veteran has gotten into his share of scraps over the years.
So it was impressive when 19-year-old Elliot Desnoyers, a 2020 draft pick who played in his first preseason game Monday, dropped the gloves with the Bruins blueliner.
The two were engaged in a net-front battle in the Bruins’ defensive zone, and the pushing and shoving continued even after the Bruins got possession and made it into the neutral zone. The two ultimately decided to just settle things with their fists.
It was a spirited bout, and certainly one that had to have further ingratiated Desnoyers with the Flyers’ coaching staff before he heads back to juniors. And after the game, he made an admission about it.
It was his first fight.
“It was a part of my game that I wanted to show,” Desnoyers said after the game, via NBC Sports Philadelphia. “Not necessarily that I’m a fighter — it was actually my first fight — but just that I’m ready to do anything to get my team the W. I just felt like it was a good time, losing by one.”
At 5-11, 183 pounds, Desnoyers actually was punching well above his weight, as Moore measures in at 6-foot-4, 207 pounds.
If nothing else, Desnoyers well have a good story to tell his buddies in Halifax once he returns to juniors.
