Bruins
As penalty-filled as Game 2 of the Bruins-Panthers matchup was, it still trails multiple games from the 1980s by a staggering margin.
One of the takeaways from Game 2 of the Bruins-Panthers playoff matchup—aside from Florida evening the series with a lopsided 6-1 win—was the incredible number of penalty minutes logged by both teams.
Continuing what has become a budding rivalry between the postseason opponents, the Bruins elected to keep fighting (literally) long after the actual game was essentially decided on Wednesday. In all, 17 penalties were dolled out over the final period, adding up to 136 penalty minutes.
It may have been a jarring figure for most fans of the modern NHL, in which penalty minutes have generally declined over the last few decades. This is reflected more specifically in playoff stats: Of the 19 times the Bruins have accrued at least 60 penalty minutes in a playoff game, only three of those happened in the 21st century.
One was Wednesday night’s Game 2. The others were Game 3 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final (an 8-1 Bruins win over the Canucks in which Boston chalked up 75 PIM), and—not surprisingly—Game 2 of last year’s first-round debacle that also came against Florida (in which Boston ran up 60 PIM in a 6-3 loss).
The Panthers, it should be noted, are a bit of a throwback team regarding penalties. Florida not only led the league in penalty minutes per game, but also in opponent PIM. In fact, the Panthers per game total (13.6) was the highest by any NHL team since the 2014-2015 Penguins.
But in comparison to older eras of hockey, even the Panthers’ PIM stats seem minuscule. Twenty years ago, the NHL averaged 14.6 penalty minutes per game. Forty years ago, that number was 18.
With that in mind, here’s a look back at the five most penalized games in Bruins playoff history:
Bruins 1, Panthers 6 (May 8, 2024)
Bruins penalty minutes: 77
The list begins with the most recent entry, Wednesday’s chaotic defeat in Florida. In the context of the Panthers’ incredible playoff upset over the 2023 Bruins (a team that was historically great in the regular season), Boston undoubtedly viewed the rematch with a certain degree of relish.
Following the 5-1 win in Game 1, the Bruins took a 1-0 lead in the second game. But from that brief high point, things went downhill. The same could be said for the penalties. After three were called per team in the first two periods, the last 10 minutes saw an eruption of fights and (eventual) game misconducts.
The most talked about clash was David Pastrnak vs. Matthew Tkachuk. Though Pastrnak got knocked down, Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said after the game that he was “proud” of the prolific goal-scorer for dropping the gloves.
Bruins 3, Rangers 4 (April 11, 1970)
Bruins penalty minutes: 93
In a game that Boston Globe reporter Kevin Walsh called “one of the hardest fought battles in the long history of the Stanley Cup playoffs,” the Rangers desperately tried to rough up the Bruins to throw Boston’s stars off their game.
It succeeded, at least for one night. New York managed a 4-3 win, building a 4-1 lead by the third period as a cushion against the seemingly inevitable Bobby Orr goal (as well as one more from Fred Stanfield).
“We’re getting paid to get you,” Rangers goaltender Ed Giacomin told Derek Sanderson (according to Sanderson). The cynical ploy resulted in Sanderson lasting in the game for exactly 91 seconds before he was enveloped by Rangers.
Amid a charged Madison Square Garden playoff atmosphere, with fans holding up signs carrying the not-so-subtle message, “Kill Derek,” the Bruins centerman known as “The Turk” accounted for 30 PIM all by himself. He was summarily dismissed for the night along with Rangers winger Dave Balon.
The Bruins, of course, had the last laugh that season. Boston went on to win the series, 4-2, and eventually lifted the team’s first Stanley Cup in 29 years.
Bruins 1, Canadiens 3 (April 9, 1986)
Bruins penalty minutes: 95
The first game of the Adams Division Semi-Final matchup against the rival Canadiens began ominously for the Bruins. After just 65 seconds, Boston was called for having too many men on the ice. A flurry of roughing calls followed, but were accompanied by no goals in the first period.
Montreal fired in a trio of goals in the second period to take a commanding lead as the penalties started to flow more freely. Boston wing Louis Sleigher was sent to the box after a fight with Canadiens defenseman Larry Robinson (during which time Montreal’s Bobby Smith opened the scoring on a power play).
Luck was also not on Boston’s side in what proved a decisive second period on the way to a 3-1 loss.
“Montreal was holding a 1-0 lead and, in the space of 1 minute 45 seconds, the Bruins hit the post three times and had the tying goal disallowed,” recapped the Globe’s Francis Rosa. “Montreal scored for a 2-0 lead and all the young Bruins got a taste of what can happen in [The Forum].”
Bruins 2, Sabres 6 (April 9, 1988)
Bruins penalty minutes: 105
Similar to the recent Bruins-Panthers clash, a majority of the penalty minutes in 1988 Adams Division Semi-Final Game 3 matchup between Boston and the Buffalo Sabres came in the final period.
More specifically, most of the fights happened in the last 47 seconds, with the scoreline already settled. Bruins head coach Terry O’Reilly was aghast at the officiating. Remarkably, his conclusion was that not enough penalties had been called.
“I’ve never, never in five years, seen a referee let so much go,” O’Reilly raged in the postgame scene. “I honestly do not know what’s going on. It borders on dishonesty.”
The incessant penalties ruined the “flow” of the game, per Rosa’s Globe recap, but he noted that “there were moments when some pretty decent hockey was played.”
The decent hockey mostly came from Buffalo’s John Tucker, as the Sabres center notched four goals (including a penalty shot score).
The Sabres skated away with a 6-2 win, but the Bruins went on to take the series in six games.
Bruins 4, Islanders 5 (April 17, 1980)
Bruins penalty minutes: 126
Even after four separate one-on-one fights in the first period of the second game in a quarterfinal series between the Bruins and Islanders, it turned out that the two teams were simply warming up.
Right at the end of the opening period, Boston’s Mike Milbury and Stan Jonathan got into individual fights with the Islanders. And with both teams coming onto the ice due to the end of the period, the fights only grew in number. Even goaltenders Billy Smith and Yves Belanger got into it as the rink-wide brawl lasted 20 minutes.
This culminated with a staggering 248 penalty minutes in the first period by itself, as four players from each team were assessed fighting, misconduct, and game misconduct penalties.
Remarkably, the ensuing two periods were as clean a hockey game as the 1980s could seemingly produce. Having dolled out 36 penalties in the first period, referee Dave Newell made just three more over the second and third periods combined (along with the 84 seconds of overtime).
“Those were two of the greatest periods of hockey you could hope to see,” remarked Bruins coach Harry Sinden after the game.
The Islanders managed to find an overtime winner in a 5-4 victory, taking a 2-0 series lead (New York would eventually advance in five games).
“You have to hand it to them,” Sinden added. “They won two overtime games here.”
“Maybe we took over,” said Wayne Cashman of the Bruins, “but we didn’t win — and that’s what counts.”
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