Tyler Bertuzzi made the most of his Boston Bruins postseason debut against the Florida Panthers at TD Garden on Monday night, and in doing so captured the attention of fans with one specific incident.
Although Bertuzzi's stellar performance included pair of assists in Boston's 3-1 win over Florida in Game 1 of the team's first-round Stanley Cup playoffs series, it probably will be remembered more for his role as the agitator after a specific pest-like display involving Panthers left wing Nick Cousins.
Midway through the third period, Bertuzzi and Cousins got into a bit of an exchange that ended with Bertuzzi grabbing and taking Cousins' stick back to Boston's bench. When Cousins went to try and get it back, Bertuzzi made clear he had no intentions of doing so and instead tried to snap the stick on the Bruins' bench.
You can watch the viral video here, courtesy of SportsNet:
Bertuzzi had a nonchalant reaction to the incident when spoke with reporters after the game.
"I mean, it's the playoffs. There's going to be some stupid things that happen," Bertuzzi told reporters. "That was one of them."
Bruins teammates including Brad Marchand raved about Bertuzzi after his playoff debut.
The Black and Gold surely will be hoping Bertuzzi, who Bruins general manager Don Sweeney acquired from the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL trade deadline, will be able to do much of the same in Game 2 on Wednesday night. Puck drop from TD Garden is set for 7:30 p.m. ET, and you can watch it live on NESN after an hour of pregame coverage.
