Tempers flared in the waning moments of Bruins-Panthers Game 2 on Wednesday night at TD Garden.
With Florida just under two minutes away from securing a series-tying win over Boston, Tomas Nosek pursued a hit on Eric Staal and ultimately clipped the Panthers center up high. Nosek was not issued a penalty for the hit, but a stoppage of play seconds later allowed the pair of fourth liners to come face-to-face and speak their minds.
After Matthew Tkachuk and Nosek chirped at each other for over 30 seconds, Staal stormed in and condemned the Bruins wing for his high hit. The exchange could be heard pretty clearly thanks to a hot mic on ESPN’s broadcast.
“Good hit. Good, clean hit. Really (expletive) nice. Good hit. Good, clean hit, you (expletive) loser,” Staal told Nosek.
“Shut up, I barely touched you,” Nosek replied.
While referees did not send Nosek to the penalty box after going high on Staal, it’s not a guarantee that the seventh-year pro makes it out of the situation unscathed. A call from the NHL seems well within the realm of possibility for Nosek, whose status for Game 3 is now uncertain.
If Nosek can’t go Friday night in Florida, it will force Jim Montgomery to make a lineup change for the Bruins’ pivotal first road playoff game. But even if Nosek avoids suspension, we could see a different-looking Boston lineup for Game 3.
