TAMPA – Sitting in the visitors’ room at Amalie Arena still sweaty from morning skate, Luke Schenn removes his Toronto Maple Leafs ballcap to reveal a stitched-up gash along his hairline, a memento from Game 2’s heavyweight tilt with Tanner Jeannot.
“You respect his game. You respect what his role is. He knows what he’s doing,” Schenn says. “He’s a tough guy and has got some experience doing it.
“As a team, you don’t want to back down at all. I’m not opposed to sticking up for anyone, including myself.”
Seven stitches were needed to patch up the Maple Leafs defenceman after a doozy of fight with the Tampa Bay Lightning’s expensive trade-deadline acquisition.
The score was 6-1 Leafs when the two combatants dropped their gloves, and Schenn knew that Jeannot came over the boards for the sole purpose of requesting a fight.
The Lightning’s noisy approach while getting blown out 7-2 Thursday was the complete opposite of the Maple Leafs in Game 1, when Toronto lost 7-3.
If Tampa was going to lose, the club at least wanted a pound of flesh, racking up 49 penalty minutes, three fights and a couple ejections, most of which occurred in garbage time.
This wasn’t about changing momentum; it was about puffing chests.
Jeannot asked to dance, and Schenn knew if he didn’t accept, another Leaf would have to.
“After a certain point, enough’s enough,” Schenn says. “OK, let’s go.”
Jeannot has already racked up 26 fights over his first two seasons in the NHL. This was his second time initiating a scrap with Schenn, as the two did battle on Nov. 5, 2021, when Schenn played for the Vancouver Canucks and Jeannot the Nashville Predators:
Schenn made the highlight reel after he went to the Leafs room to get stitched up because he skated from the tunnel to the penalty box mid-play:
“That was funny, eh?” Schenn smiles.
The defenceman was standing at the tunnel, trying to get the officials’ attention, but fans were talking to him and he was worried about missing play.
So, he told the usher: “Let me out.”
“Play could be going on for four, five minutes. I’m not going to be standing there for that long,” Schenn explains.
“I couldn’t get anyone’s attention, so… no looking back. I didn’t want to turn around, so I just kept going and helped myself into the box. Surprised the timekeepers too.”
No one will be surprised if the Lightning try to drag Game 3 into the trenches, too.
Asked if the Maple Leas will be making any lineup changes, coach Sheldon Keefe replied: “Maybe.”
Timothy Liljegren and Wayne Simmonds, healthy scratches all series, did not stay on the ice for extra work Saturday morning.
Clearly, Toronto would rather minimize the sideshows and stick to hockey. The club was not thrilled that Jeannot & Co. tried to mix it up once the scoreboard got so lopsided in Game 2.
“If it happens again, it happens again,” Schenn shrugs.
“It’s a battle, and both teams are going at it. He’s got that role to play, and so do I.”