The Washington Capitals handed the Boston Bruins a nasty 7-0 drubbing to start the season, and frustrations boiled over for Brad Marchand.
After Lars Eller scored the 7-0 goal, he jawed at the Bruins bench, and that apparently pushed Marchand over the edge. Marchand received a game misconduct and instigator infractions to go along with a fighting major after he went after Eller, who was bloodied by the fight.
You can see it all - including the offending smack talk - in the video above.
Following the Bruins’ worst-ever season-opening loss, Marchand wasn’t exactly apologetic to Eller.
“His celebration was unnecessary,” Marchand said, via the AP’s Stephen Whyno. “He took an angle in front of our bench and celebrated in a 7-0 game. So I just let him know.”
We’ll see if there’s any additional fallout from this, but plenty will find such comments rich from Marchand, considering his history of licking, iffy hits, and even that “golfing” celebration.
Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy voiced his support for Marchand, stating that “Marchy let him know that that’s not acceptable.”
According to Hockey Fights’ listings, this was the first fight of Eller’s career; while he fought back, plenty of people believe that he was reluctant to drop the gloves with Marchand.
While the Bruins won’t have much time to shake off this embarrassing loss (they face the Sabres on Thursday), the two sides won’t renew acquaintances again in 2018. Their next contest takes place in Boston on Jan. 10.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.