The Boston Bruins clinched the Presidents’ Trophy Thursday and will therefore have home-ice advantage throughout the following playoffs. The Bruins clinched the NHL’s best record with an overtime win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at TD Garden.
And although the Bruins are superior to other teams in the league, and the Blue Jackets are last in the Metropolitan Division, the game was testy. And we saw a memorable one-punch from Bruins forward Trent Frederic.
The fight we’re talking about happened in the second period of the game, and it came as a retaliation for a cross-check on Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron that had occurred just minutes earlier.
Blue Jackets’ Lane Pederson was the one who cross-checked Bergeron, and if there’s one thing we know about the Boston Bruins, it is that you don’t touch their captain and get away with it.
Pederson got a 2-minute minor for the cross-check on Bergeron’s face, but after leaving the penalty box, it didn’t take long for Trent Frederic to seek him up, and when the fight actually happened, it didn’t last very long.
Frederic absolutely dropped Pederson with a beautiful one-punch, and Pederson’s night came to an early end with that. He was dizzy when trying to get up after the fight, and he didn’t return to play in the third period. Both Pederson and Frederic received five minutes for fighting.
