Tkachuk, Pastrnak trade punches in confrontation
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Kristen Shilton, ESPN NHL reporter
Boston and Florida turned up the heat in Game 2 of their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series on Wednesday with a heavyweight bout between stars Matthew Tkachuk and David Pastrnak.
The visiting Bruins — who entered with a 1-0 series lead — were trailing 6-1 with just over seven minutes remaining in the third period when top winger Pastrnak and Panthers forward Tkachuk dropped the gloves in an uncharacteristic fight that Pastrnak was ready to accept when Tkachuk agreed to the challenge.
“I’m not afraid of him, to be honest,” Pastrnak said. “I can take a punch.”
The fisticuffs actually appeared to be approved by Bruins coach Jim Montgomery. Cameras showed Montgomery seemingly giving Pastrnak the nod to mix it up with Tkachuk shortly before the two went after one another.
Montgomery denied he offered explicit permission, but he wasn’t upset over Pastrnak getting physical in the Bruins’ eventual 6-1 loss that tied the series as it moves to Boston for Game 3 on Friday.
“I’m really proud of Pasta,” Montgomery said. “He just went out there and fought. You like your hockey players to be competitors.”
What Montgomery didn’t appreciate was the added hits he thought Tkachuk got in as Pastrnak went to the ice.
“That’s not part of the game to me,” Montgomery said.
For his part, Florida coach Paul Maurice felt the scrap was a positive.
“I thought it was awesome,” Maurice said.
Both Tkachuk and Pastrnak received penalties for fighting and a game misconduct. But as Pastrnak blatantly admitted after the final whistle, “The game was over.”
It was a difficult night all around for Boston, which sustained its most lopsided loss of the postseason. The Bruins started well, with Charlie Coyle offering them a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes. But it was all Florida from there, as the Panthers scored six unanswered goals to secure their first victory of the series.
Boston had been enjoying sensational goaltending by Jeremy Swayman throughout the playoffs — he entered Game 2 with a 5-2 record, .955 save percentage and 1.42 goals against average — but Montgomery pulled Swayman early in the third after he allowed the fourth Panthers goal. Swayman, who hadn’t given up more than two goals in a playoff contest to that point, was replaced by Linus Ullmark in his first action since Game 2 of Boston’s first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Montgomery didn’t think the downturn had to do with Swayman, though, as much as the Bruins having played their starter in six of seven games through a first-round series that ended Saturday and again in Monday’s Game 1 — during which Swayman was exceptional in making 38 stops in the win.
“The workload played into our effort tonight,” Montgomery said. “We didn’t have juice tonight. Swayman was terrific. I thought about taking him out at 3-1, and then when the fourth goal went in, I was like, ‘I’m taking him out now.'”
Ullmark finished with eight saves on 10 shots to Swayman’s 19 stops of 23 shots.
It has been the Bruins’ habit not to announce a starting goaltender prior to games in the postseason. It’s unlikely Montgomery will break with tradition prior to Game 3.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A Maryland board approved a $14.3 million contract on Wednesday to begin the demolition and rebuilding of Baltimore’s storied but antiquated Pimlico Race Course, home to the second jewel of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes.
The vote by the three-member Board of Public Works, which includes Gov. Wes Moore, was made 10 days before the 150th Preakness Stakes, which is scheduled for May 17. It will be the last time the annual horse race will be held with the existing structures in place before the track is rebuilt on the same site. The demolition will begin shortly after this year’s race.
“There cannot be a better time to announce the beginning of a transformation that will allow Pimlico to become a year-round hub for economic activity within the Park Heights community,” Moore said of the Baltimore neighborhood and longtime home of the race.
Under the plan, the Preakness will take place in Laurel Park, located just southwest of Baltimore, in 2026 while the new facility is built, before returning to Pimlico in time for the 2027 race.
Craig Thompson, the chair of the Maryland Stadium Authority which is overseeing the design of the new track, said the plan is to make Pimlico the home of Maryland thoroughbred racing. The track will go from hosting about 15 races a year to well over 100, Thompson said.
“This is more than just about a racetrack, as historic and important as it is,” Thompson said. “This is about bringing hundreds of millions of dollars in state investments to Park Heights.”
Thompson also shared a preview of the design plans. They include a new clubhouse with architecture inspired by the Rawlings Conservatory in Baltimore’s Druid Hill park and the original Pimlico Clubhouse, which included a colonnade and rooftop balconies, Thompson said.
Last year, the board approved a deal to transfer ownership of Pimlico from The Stronach Group to the State of Maryland in order to ensure the Preakness remains in Baltimore.
The state has been wrestling with what to do to restore the old racetrack for decades. Aptly nicknamed Old Hilltop, the track opened in 1870. It’s where Man o’ War, Seabiscuit, Secretariat and many others pranced to the winner’s circle.
But its age has long been a concern. In 2019, the Maryland Jockey Club closed off nearly 7,000 grandstand seats, citing the “safety and security of all guests and employees.”
The horse racing industry and other equine industries have been a cornerstone of Maryland agriculture, as well as an integral part of preserving green space.
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