Watch: Ryan Reaves flexes after knocking down Liam O'Brien with heavyweight punches

By Nathan Grella

Modified Mar 02, 2024 09:38 GMT

The clash between the Toronto Maple Leafs and struggling Arizona Coyotes turned heated when Ryan Reaves faced off against Liam O'Brien. Just 18 minutes into the game, with the Leafs leading 1-0, the arena crackled with anticipation as two of the top fighters dropped their gloves.

From the outset, Reaves asserted his dominance, unleashing a barrage of right-handed haymakers that left O'Brien scrambling to maintain his footing. The force behind Reaves' punches was palpable, as he landed two colossal blows, the first of which sent O'Brien's helmet flying.

Despite O'Brien's attempts to retaliate, he found himself off balance and unable to mount a significant defense against Reaves' relentless assault.

As the Scotiabank Arena erupted in cheers, Reaves stood tall over his opponent, appearing to either talk trash the younger O'Brien. Reaves then turned to the roaring crowd and gave his signature flex, which he often does after winning big fights.

Arizona Coyotes looks to break 13-game losing streak against Ryan Reaves' Toronto Maple Leafs

The Arizona Coyotes' struggles on the ice have never been more evident, with the team in the midst of a daunting 13-game losing streak. Despite their efforts to turn the tide, the Coyotes suffered defeat ahead of their clash with Toronto, this time at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens, who snapped their own five-game skid.

Montreal Canadiens goalie Sam Montembeault made 36 saves and led his team to a 4-2 victory over the Coyotes.

Montembeault credited his teammates' defensive efforts and praised their containment of the Coyotes' offense to just two goals:

“They had a lot of shots but even with that we’ve got some guys like [Mike] Matheson and [Johnathan] Kovacevic, they blocked a lot of shots, too."

Goals from Joel Armia, Jordan Harris, Tanner Pearson and Nick Suzuki secured the win for Montreal. Harris' second-period goal and set up for Pearson's goal in the third were crucial moments. Despite goals from Alex Kerfoot and Nick Bjugstad for Arizona, Montreal's defense held strong.