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WATCH: Matthew Tkachuk throws haymakers at Sam Girard in retaliation to Sergei Bobrovsky getting knocked over
In a contentious third period between the Florida Panthers and the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, Matthew Tkachuk decided to take the law into his own hands.
With the Panthers clinging to a tight 3-2 lead, the Avalanche applied pressure. When Ross Colton crashed into Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, either accidentally or due to a Panthers defender's intervention, all hell broke loose.
Seeing his goaltender down, Tkachuk dove into the fray to defend him. Tkachuk, along with Dmitry Kulikov, double-teamed Colton and unleashed a barrage of haymakers on the center, who was sprawled on the ice.
As the referees intervened to separate the combatants, Tkachuk shifted his attention to Girard. Tkachuk landed several punishing hits on Girard, ignoring the referee's attempts to intervene.
Here's the video:
Eventually, the referees broke up the intense altercation between Tkachuk and Girard, but not before splinter fights had broken out around them.
Colorado Avalanche lose 8-4 to Florida Panthers in Matthew Tkachuk's four-point night
Despite the scoreboard reading 3-2 at the time of the third-period fight, it wouldn't stay that way for too long. Both teams filled the score sheet in the third period, with five goals between them. Unfortunately for the Avalanche, four of the goals came from the Florida Panthers.
Reinhart's third goal, a one-timer on the power play at 5:59 of the third period, secured the lead for Florida at 5-4. His performance added to his recent scoring spree, amassing 11 points in the last seven games.
Matthew Tkachuk also played a pivotal role, contributing a goal and three assists, while Aleksander Barkov notched four assists.
Carter Verhaeghe's two goals and an assist, combined with Sergei Bobrovsky's 23 saves, contributed to the Panthers' dominance. The team has outscored opponents 31-14 during its impressive seven-game winning streak.
Cale Makar and Valeri Nichushkin each had a goal and an assist, while Mikko Rantanen provided two assists for Colorado. Nathan MacKinnon extended his season-opening home point streak to 21 games.
The Florida Panthers will head to St. Louis to take on the Blues next.
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