BOSTON — Boston Bruins forward Tyler Bertuzzi fully committed to the playoff experience in his first-ever postseason game Monday night against the Florida Panthers at TD Garden.
That included participating in some of the antics that come with playoff hockey.
Midway through the third period as Bertuzzi skated past Nick Cousins on his way to the bench, Bertuzzi took the stick out of the hands of the Panthers forward. And Bertuzzi played finders keepers with the piece of lumber.
Bertuzzi took Cousins’ stick all the way to the Bruins bench even as Cousins followed him there and tried to get it back. But the Bruins winger never surrendered it and instead attempted to break it.
Bertuzzi addressed the situation following Boston’s 3-1 win and chalked it up as an event that can occur in the emotionally charged atmosphere of a playoff game.
“I mean, it’s the playoffs. There’s going to be some stupid things that happen,” Bertuzzi said. “That was one of them.”
Bertuzzi also had some battles with Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk, but none escalated the way things did with Cousins. The 28-year-old Bertuzzi, who spent the first six-plus years of his NHL career with the Detroit Red Wings, believes he’ll have plenty of encounters with Tkachuk going forward.
