The only thing missing from the Jets' 8-1 beatdown of the Bruins on Tuesday night was an octagon.
In one of the crazier nights in recent memory — past just the absolute demolition derby Winnipeg laid down on Boston — the two sides traded in their hockey gloves for MMA ones, with multiple fights breaking out to cap off a night not often seen on the ice.
"That doesn't happen a whole heck of a lot in hockey anymore. It's a different game now," Jets head coach Scott Arniel said Wednesday, downplaying the revenge-fuelled brawls while hoping to move on. "That's why you guys are still talking about it. We're not. It's just one of those rare things that happen.
"It was just one of those crazy evenings that happen."
The fireworks started after the Jets scored their sixth goal of the game seven minutes into the third period. The Bruins, resigned to what was already a lost result, seemingly said to themselves that they were leaving with something.
Boston forward Trent Frederic immediately dropped his gloves, challenging Winnipeg centre David Gustafsson before quickly dropping him to the ice.
Gustafsson had to be helped off the ice and was evaluated by the team's medical staff after the game. His teammates responded by breaking out into a few more fights and getting some well-earned revenge for Gustafsson.
"You see your teammate, one of your best friends down on the ice, you want to stick up for him any way you can," Jets defenceman Logan Stanley said. "You talk about having good people in your room, that's what Gussy is, one of the best people that I know personally. So to see him go down, or any of your teammates go down, that's never a good feeling. Doesn't sit well with anyone in our room. We stick up for each other in here."
Immediately after Gustafsson went down, Stanley took some swings of his own, challenging Bruins enforcer Mark Kastelic to a brawl in hopes of earning some retribution. Officials eventually stepped in to break up their fight.
Stanley told reporters Wednesday that not only was he mad watching his teammate go down, but he was especially upset because Gustafsson, who isn't known for his fighting abilities, was the one to get challenged.
"It's a tough one. Gussy gets his gloves off," Stanley said. "Frederic's been in a lot more fights than David has and I was standing right there, so if there was anyone that wanted to go, it didn't have to be Gus."
Following the two altercations, Jets captain Adam Lowry got into a brawl of his own, challenging the Ivan Drago-esque defenceman Nikita Zadorov to drop the gloves. He told reporters after the game that Gustafsson should've never been in that situation in the first place, but that he was proud of the young centreman for "not backing down."
Despite the seemingly bad blood between the two sides, Arniel chalked it all up to the Jets simply playing their game and being the better team that night — as evidenced by the 8-1 score.
"All sort of a byproduct of what happens when you play hard and do all the right things. There's no secret," Arniel said. "We frustrated Boston last night because we played our game. To me, that's why I don't want to get caught up in what happened in that quick five minutes of craziness. It's how well we played last night as a team."
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