When Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney signed defenseman Nikita Zadorov in the summer of 2024, he did so with an eye toward the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In Zadorov's first season in Boston, the Bruins failed to make the postseason and finished tied for last place in the Eastern Conference with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Things were different this season with the Black and Gold, who were able to hold off some charges from teams late in the regular season before they secured the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The reward was a match-up with the Buffalo Sabres, the biggest surprise and best story this season in the NHL, who won the Atlantic Division.
Underdogs entering the series, the Bruins had a 2-0 lead with eight minutes left in Game 1, before Buffalo got two goals from Tage Thompson to spark a four-goal blitz in a 4-3 win. Boston was looking to bounce back in Game 2 on Tuesday night at the KeyBank Center and did with a 4-2 win.
Building a 4-0 lead early in the third period, Boston clearly had Buffalo frustrated. That boiled over when Zadorov did what he was brought in to do: be a physical presence on the backend in the playoffs.
Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov sends message to Sabres
Early in the third period, Buffalo's Zach Benson poked Jeremy Swayman after Boston's netminder had frozen the puck. That didn't sit well with Zadorov, who did what players do at this time in the postseason: he dropped Benson, which allowed the Sabres' frustration to come out, and a donnybrook broke out. Zadorov didn't beat around the bush about a message he was sending Buffalo.
“When I grew up, all my coaches were telling me to protect my goalie,” Zadorov said. “So when somebody slashes my goalie, that’s my job to step in. If they want to keep doing it, they want to keep getting it. That’s how it is.”
That's the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, Benson wasn't prepared for Zadorov's response, and honestly, if he wasn't expecting it, then shame on him. Buffalo has all of their goals in the series in the third period on Swayman, but in the other four periods, Boston has shut them down, for the most part. The series shifts to Boston and expect more of the same, but the Bruins need to find a way to hold serve at home against one of the better road teams this season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google