Boston Bruins winger Tyler Bertuzzi looked like a natural in his first NHL playoff appearance on Monday night against the Florida Panthers, even trolling his opponents in a perfect way.
Bertuzzi, who was acquired from the Detroit Red Wings last month in exchange for a pair of draft picks, set his sights on Panthers center Nick Cousins in the third period.
With just under 12 minutes remaining, Bertuzzi dumped the puck into the boards by Florida netminder Alex Lyon before skating over to the Bruins bench.
In the process, he seemingly grabbed hold of Cousins’ stick. Cousins retaliated by shoving Bertuzzi, who in return attempted to break the stick.
When that failed, Bertuzzi set the stick aside before an official came and picked it up to return it to Cousins.
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"I mean, it’s the playoffs. There’s gonna be some stupid things that happen," Bertuzzi said after the game, via NBC Sports. "And that was one of them."
Bertuzzi logged 18:41 minutes of ice time and finished his playoff debut with a pair of assists and three shots on goal.
"Yeah, when we acquired him we thought that he was a guy that was made for the playoffs," Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said after the game.
"And I thought his first shift he laid out two huge hits and he just kept making plays. The puck seems to follow him and he makes plays. He makes real good decisions with it."
The Bruins lead the series 1-0 and take on the Panthers at home for Game 2 on Wednesday night.
