Pat Maroon: Bruins Should be ‘Pissed Off’ at Florida Panthers

Speaking to Boston Hockey Now before his media availability on Friday morning, Boston tough Pat Maroon said his Bruins “should be pissed off for sure” going into tonight’s Game 3 against the Florida Panthers.

On Wednesday night, things got very heated after the Panthers took a 4-1 lead when Maroon and Nick Cousins had words.

Both, for some reason, received game misconducts and tossed from the game; Maroon also got a roughing penalty which led to Sasha Barkov’s power-play goal at 10:52.

Things went off the rails after that.

Maroon told BHN’s Jimmy Murphy that he was not told why he got a game misconduct.

“I was just confused,’’ Maroon said, “but it’s over, and I’m moving on.”

The fight that got the most attention was the one between Matthew Tkachuk and David Pastrnak.

Murphy asked Maroon if he thought Tkachuk would have challenged Pastrnak if Maroon or some of the other heavy hitters from the Bruins were still involved in the game.

By the time Tkachuk and Pastrnak squared off, 10 players from both teams were already ejected.

“I mean, I don’t know,” said Maroon, who has a history with the Panthers dating back to his time with the Lightning.

“You can’t really think about that but for me, I know what happened so … you just gotta focus on the game. You can’t be going out there and taking stupid penalties. There are guys who are willing, and there are guys who are not, and unfortunately, there’s no one over there right now. But you just gotta play smart between the whistles; you don’t want to put your team on the penalty kill.”

When Maroon held his scrum with the rest of the Boston media, he expounded on the thoughts he shared with Murphy.

“I think we should be pissed off, for sure. Especially about Game 2,’’ Maroon said. “All the other stuff – the scrums, yelling in our face after they score – it’s over, it’s done with.

“We’ve got to be mad here and play with intensity.”

Maroon did call out Tkachuk in his general.

“Tkachuk’s not going to fight me,’’ he said. “If I go out there, take a dumb penalty and they get a power play my job’s not accomplished. … I obviously did not like the way [Tkachuk] hit him on the ground twice. I think that’s dirty. I like the idea of him fighting, Pasta did a good job as a leader does. He stood up for the team, took charge. …

“Listen, I’m probably will never play against Tkachuk anyway. Let’s be real.’’

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STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

FLORIDA PANTHERS (ATL1) V. BOSTON BRUINS (ATL2)

BEST-OF-7 SERIES TIED 1-1

GAME 3 

• When: Friday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Boston Garden 
• National TV: TNT
• Streaming: HBO Max
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL app
• Series Schedule — Game 1: Bruins 5, Panthers 1; Game 2: Panthers 6, Bruins 1; Game 3: Friday at Boston, 7 (TNT); Game 4: Sunday at Boston, 6:30 (TBS); Game 5: Tuesday at Florida, 7 (ESPN); Game 6*:Friday May 17 at Boston, TBA; Game 7*: Sunday May 19 at Florida TBA. (*) – If Necessary 
• How They Got Here: Florida d. Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1; Boston d. Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3
• Florida’s First Round — Game 1: Panthers 3, Tampa Bay 2; Game 2: Florida 3, Tampa Bay 2 OT; Game 3: Panthers 5, Tampa Bay 3; Game 4: Tampa Bay 6, Panthers 3; Game 5: Panthers 6, Tampa Bay 1.
• Last Season vs. Boston — Regular Season: Tied 2-2; Playoffs: Florida won 4-3 (first-round)
• This Season (Bruins 4-0) — At Boston: Bruins 3, Panthers 2 OT (Oct.30); Bruins 3, Panthers 2 OT (Ap. 6). At Florida: Bruins 3, Panthers 1 (Nov. 22); Bruins 4, Panthers 3 (March 26).
• All-time Regular Season Series: Boston leads 64-37-7, 6 ties
• All-time Postseason Series: Florida leads 2-0 (1996 1st, 2023 1st)