Nearly midway through the second period of Tuesday night's game at the TD Garden against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Boston Bruins were holding a 4-1 lead over their Atlantic Division rivals. This was the second matchup in three days after the two teams hooked up on Saturday night in Toronto and the Bruins came away with a 5-3 win.
On Saturday night, Zadorov laid a heavy hit on Toronto center Scott Laughton and knocked him out of the game with an injury. The Maple Leafs entered the second matchup in Boston as an angry team from that hit, never mind that was to come in the second period of the rematch.
With just under 12 minutes left in the middle period, Zadorov hit Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews just outside the Boston blueline near the boards. Matthews got up and stayed on the ice for the rest of his shift, which ended with him trying to hit Zadorov back. He left the ice and the game after being ruled out with a lower-body injury.
As expected, Toronto fans wanted extreme punishment for Zadorov's hit, even though there was no penalty called. It seems that when things are not going well for Toronto, the blame surrounds the officiating. Go figure. It's never the players' fault.
Anyway, following the game, which the Black and Gold won 5-3 to extend their winning streak to seven games, Zadorov had a take on the hit and called it a clean one.
Nikita Zadorov calls his hit on Auston Matthews a clean hit
Zadorov explained his hit on Matthews was clean, and he said why it was. This won't sit well with Maple Leafs fans.
“It was just a normal play. I didn’t really hit him. I hit with my right shoulder,” Zadorov said. “Ninety-nine percent of my hits in the NHL are with my right shoulder. There wasn’t any intention to hurt him. I play hard against top players on the other team, that’s my job.”
Zadorov also stated that he is not sure that the hit at center ice was the one that actually injured Matthews.
“I’m not sure what hit he got hurt on. I’m not going to speculate on that,” Zadorov said.
Toronto mounted a comeback late in the second and in the third period to cut the deficit to 4-3, but a David Pastrnak power play goal midway through the third increased the Boston lead back to two goals. Then the Maple Leafs tried to goon things up, which didn't work out well.
Max Domi looked for retribution in the final period, and Zadorov drew a penalty on Domi after he did not retaliate, and he explained why after the game.
“I’m not going to fight my friends,'' said Zadorov. "We won a championship together in OHL, I have respect for Max .. And he’s so much smaller than me. It’s a lose-lose for me if I fight him.”
I'm sure that explanation will be handled calmly by Maple Leafs fans, but in the end, Zadorov was watching out for a former teammate in a chippy game. You have to respect that.