Boston Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov (91) fought with Columbus Blue Jackets right wing Mathieu Olivier (24) on Saturday (Image Source: Imagn)
The Boston Bruins and Columbus Blue Jackets faced off on back-to-backs and it appears like a lot of bad blood might have spilled over. The game featured two fights featuring Mathieu Olivier, the second of which was against high-pounding tough Nikita Zadorov.
In the third period with 13:25 left on the clock, the Bruins had a comfortable 4-0 lead. The Bruins’ Charlie McAvoy was receiving a pass near the side of the rink. He was absolutely drilled by Olivier who impeded him as McAvoy fell to the ground.
Nikita Zadorov immediately stood up for his teammate and dropped his gloves and helmet squaring off against Olivier. Zadorov, 6-foot-5 and Olivier 6-1 had a long stalemate trying to break free before the pair finally punched at each other but none of them seemed to land. The referees intervened and the fight was suspended to the dismay of the crowd.
Charlie McAvoy takes a hit by Mathieu Olivier, who then drops the mitts for the SECOND TIME‼️🥊
This time Vs. Nikita Zadorov
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) December 29, 2024
Olivier’s earlier fight in the night had a bit more steam. After the Blue Jackets conceded the first goal inside three minutes of regulation time in the first period, Mark Kastelic and Olivier dropped gloves near the Blue Jackets’ inner circle.
They chipped away at each other landing a few hard hits before Kastelic lost his balance and fell to the ground and the refs had to break the fight.
Mark Kastelic and Mathieu Olivier drop the gloves five seconds after the Bruins open the scoring 🥊 pic.twitter.com/FBLpwCQVyl
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) December 29, 2024
Mathieu Olivier’s honest remarks after tough loss vs. Bruins
Mathieu Olivier wasn’t pleased with his team’s performance in the shutout loss. After the game, he spoke about how the Ohio side had already two up on Boston this season and should have replicated those performances but instead failed to show up offensively.
“I thought it was not a bad road game per se,” Olivier said. “Just every big mistake kind of ended up in the back of our net. We expected their best. Obviously, we beat them twice already this year and we’re coming back in their building.
“I didn’t think it was all that bad, just couldn’t get it going offensively, but whenever we gave up some goals it was kind of on us.”
With the win, the Bruins have a 5-1-1 record in the last seven games with their only loss coming against the Blue Jackets in a 6-2 drubbing on Friday. The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, will look to regain their momentum as they were 3-0-1 heading into the game.
