Bruins winger Brad Marchand admitted he didn't see Tyler Bertuzzi steal the stick of Nick Cousins in real-time during Boston's Stanley Cup playoffs opener against the Florida Panthers.
But upon catching up on the viral video after Boston's Game 1 victory at TD Garden on Monday night, Marchand loved the gamesmanship by his pest-like teammate. The only problem Marchand had, though, was that Bertuzzi didn't fully snap Cousins' stick once he took it to Boston's bench.
"Yeah, I don't know what he was thinking there," Marchand joked with reporters when asked about Bertuzzi's attempted break of the stick, per the team. "That would've been broken or in the crowd if that was me."
Other than that, however, Marchand was fully on board.
"I saw that yesterday, I was dying at that," Marchand said. "I didn't notice that during the game. But yeah, he's a little greaseball. I love it."
The situation being referred to occurred midway through the third period when Bertuzzi and Cousins got into a bit of an exchange at center ice. It ultimately led to Bertuzzi grabbing and stealing Cousins' stick. The Bruins agitator then brought it back to Boston's bench even though Cousins tried to retrieve it and then clearly tried to snap the blade when he got there.
The video since has captured the attention of Bruins fans and the NHL community.
Bertuzzi, though, played it off as one of the "stupid things" that will happen given the landscape of playoff hockey.
Nevertheless, it didn't stop Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery or Bertuzzi's teammates from praising him, especially since he recorded a pair of assists in the series-opening verdict.
"He's one of those guys you don't want to play against, love having on your team," Marchand said Wednesday. "He plays that playoff style all year long and he's guy you want to go to war with. We're lucky to have him right now. He's playing great and he had a big game for us."
Marchand, Bertuzzi and the rest of the Bruins will try to take a 2-0 series lead against Florida with puck drop scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday night. You can watch it live on NESN after an hour of pregame coverage.
