Brian Boyle and Mikhail Sergachev have given us the first fight of the NHL’s Return to Play.
The Panthers forward and Lightning defenseman dropped the gloves in the third period during Tampa’s 5-0 win Wednesday. Boyle finished a check on Sergachev in the corner and the two continued their battle until ultimately deciding to scrap.
There is some history with these two. Go back to Game 3 of the 2018 playoff series between the Devils and Lightning. Sergachev and Boyle tussled and had a shouting match following a scrum during the final minute of a chippy battle.
Boyle trash talking Sergachev and the inicident that started it pic.twitter.com/sUkRrfwutg
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) April 17, 2018
“He tried to get under my skin, he said some bad words, I said some bad words,” Sergachev said at the time. “That’s playoff hockey.”
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.