David Pastrnak speaks out on his intense battle with Panthers' Matthew Tkachuk

By Nestor Quixtan

Modified May 28, 2024 23:57 GMT

Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak talked about his epic fight with the Florida Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk during a recent appearance on the Spittin’ Chiclets Podcast.

The battle took place in Game 2 of the Bruins-Panthers second-round series. While David Pastrnak is not known for his pugilistic abilities, he wasn’t about to back down from a challenge.

But it seems David Pastrnak got more than he bargained for. Pastrnak stated the following as he recalled fighting Tkachuk:

"You know, he was barking. I felt like if I had fought him, it’s gonna juice them up, or I will give them something to, you know what I mean, to bark about," Pastrnak said.

At first, it seemed like Pastrnak didn’t want to go toe-to-toe, but then he changed his mind about the altercation:

"He was saying the whole time, I said, 'Let’s do it at home, next game, for a shift.' And he said, 'Yes.' Then he came back to the bench and he’s like, 'No, we’re doing it right now.' I was gonna go so aggressive, but then I remembered as I was jumping over the board, the coach goes, 'Be careful, he’s gonna come in hot," Pastrnak said.

Once David Pastrnak was ready to go, the following thoughts came to his mind:

"So I was gonna wait for the first punch, and I was going to dodge it, which I did. But man, beats, I had no idea how hard it is to keep the balance, you know? It’s crazy because once I dodged the first punch, I was all off balance, and yeah, it’s too bad," Pastrnak said.

Both combatants put up a good fight, giving the fans plenty to cheer about. David Pastrnak concluded his recollections by stating:

"But honestly, I’m happy I did it. I think it was a good juice-up."

Pasternak and the Bruins put up a good fight but were eventually eliminated by the Panthers in the playoffs. Perhaps there might be a rematch between both players next season.

David Pastrnak leads home country to world championship gold

Pastrnak joined his home country, Czechia, for the World Championships. The Bruins forward led his team to a 2-0 victory over Switzerland in the gold medal game.

Pastrnak scored with 10:47 left on the clock in the third period of the championship game to give the Czechs the gold.

Following the game, Pastrnak stated per ESPN:

"We did it at home," Pastrknak said.

He added:

"We’ve been waiting for gold for a very long time, and it couldn’t have come at a better time," Pastrnak said.

The loaded Czechia side pounded Sweden 7-3 in the semi-finals to meet the Swiss in the final. Then, Pastrnak and crew took the gold on home ice at the Prague Arena.