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Having already lost Anders Bjork on a seemingly inconsequential crosscheck from Francois Beauchemin, the Bruins were none too pleased when they saw Nick Ritchie absolutely obliterate David Backes with a high-and-late hit deep in the third period.
Adam McQuaid was barking at Ritchie all throughout his next shift, likely in an (unsuccessful) attempt to get Ritchie to answer for the hit, and Zdeno Chara then tried to return the favor with a massive open-ice hit on Adam Henrique. An agitated Ryan Getzlaf then came by, whacked Chara in the back of the leg to let him know he saw that, and the start of a potentially devastating scrap between two captains was upon us.
It was over as quickly as it began, though, as referees and linesmen alike raced into the fray to stop Chara and Getzlaf from straight-up whaling on one another. That was met with a chorus of boos from an unentertained and forever-bloodthirsty TD Garden crowd.
A decade ago, such a response (or lack thereof) -- or letting the referees decide that you would not be allowed to respond -- would have been worthy of some heart-questioning and columns penning the B’s “gutless.” (Find everything written after hits to Patrice Bergeron in 2007 and Marc Savard in 2010.) You may have read those even five years ago when John Scott did his best to launch Loui Eriksson skyward.
But the reality is that in the new NHL, this was pretty much all the B’s could have done.
Despite the fact that it seemed like you had two willing combatants in Chara and Getzlaf, the referees were the ones that decided that a fight was not on the menu. Perhaps that was taking a proper temperature read of the situation -- I’m not sure that I’ve seen the 6-foot-9 Chara angrier than he appeared in that moment, at least not in recent memory -- or realizing that having two star players of that size throw haymakers at one another is asking for trouble. Trouble being a concussion or injury or some sort.
But star player or not, these sometimes over-the-top preventative measures to stop players from fighting from the officials have become par for the course.
With just 175 fights through 771 games this season (this according to HockeyFights.com), the NHL is currently paced for just 0.23 fights per game this season. That would be the lowest single-season mark of the 21st century, beating the previous low of 0.28 fights per game, set in 2015-16. This also means that just 17.90 percent of NHL games this season have featured a fight, which would also be the lowest mark of the 21st century, beating 2015-16’s mark by a staggering 5.51 percent.
The Bruins, for what it’s worth, have done their part to remain active fighters. Only five teams have more fighting majors than the Bruins and their 15 brawls this season. (The Ducks, mind you, are one of those five teams, with 20 fighting majors this season.) Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller, a player with whom I would never want to throw fists given the pure devastation his fists have caused in his pro career, has four on his own.
But scraps are no longer common. Not even for the franchise that’s built their entire image on being big and bad, which was a polite way of saying they’d kick your ass.
The Bruins have even backed off the ‘big’ found within their moniker of yesteryear.
Backes is perhaps the club’s ‘heaviest’ forward, and even he came to camp a bit lighter than usual in an effort to become a more offensively-focused winger. Behind him, you have Noel Acciari, but as a player that’s eclipsed the 16-minute mark in two of his 32 games this season, it’s tough to hold him to the same level you held former bigs such as Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton to during their time in town. Matt Beleskey, once considered the more affordable solution to Lucic’s exit, is currently toiling in the minors.
Their defense remains a physically imposing one, yeah, but there’s no doubt that the Bruins have put more of an emphasis of offensively playmaking abilities than brawn. That’s why the 5-foot-9 Matt Grzelcyk has been a constant in the NHL throughout his latest NHL recall, while one of Miller or McQuaid watches from the press box.
It all means that the Bruins are no longer blind to this shift within the league.
It’s why the Black and Gold did their part to get ahead of this movement with the decision to not re-sign fan favorite and community staple Shawn Thornton years ago. It’s why Zac Rinaldo, a player the Bruins traded a Top-90 draft pick for back in 2015, was waiver-bound after it was revealed he couldn’t do anything else at an even somewhat tolerable level. And why Tyler Randell wasn’t able to extend his Boston stay beyond its initial 27-game sample, even with an impressive six goals on 18 shots.
Even so, the Bruins did not find themselves needing a player of this stature, or believe that a player built for fighting and nothing more would’ve done much to stop the Ducks.
“I thought we had a tough time finding a winger for Bergy and Pasta,” Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy remarked when asked if Tuesday was the night they missed Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy. “Heinen a little bit early on was feeling it playing against a bigger group. You lose Bjork, so maybe he could have been a fit. Then, we tried [Schaller] a little later to have a little heavier guy. So, definitely. He’s a point a game guy, so he probably makes a difference. Charlie moving the puck out of our zone early.”
After all, it’s not like the enforcer-type would have been able to do anything that the B’s high-end skill guys could not do in what was a streak-snapping loss for the Bruins.
Just watch Chara try to make Anaheim answer. Or listen to the boos that followed.
Either works for the primal release, of course, but neither will get you what it used to.
Ty Anderson is the Boston Bruins beat writer for WEEI.com, and has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010. He can be heard on the Saturday Skate program on 93.7 WEEI (Boston), and has been part of the Boston Chapter of the PHWA since 2013. Contact him on Twitter or send him an email at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.
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