Bruins heavyweight battles rookie playing first NHL game

In his first game in the NHL, Colorado forward Matt Stienburg not only found himself in his first fight, but did so against one of the biggest guys in the league.

Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov didn’t like Stienburg’s hit on Bruins forward Matt Poitras and went after the rookie. He cut him off first before both men got into fighting mode.

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According to the NHL’s official heights and weights, Steinburg, at 6-foot-4 and 182 pounds, gives away two inches and 62 pounds to Zadorov, who is 6-foot-4 and 248 pounds.

But even though neither man landed any real shots, Stienburg aesthetically gained the upper hand in the fight. Zadorov struggled to remove his gloves, while Stienburg grabbed the front of his jersey with his left hand and tried to hit Zadorov in the back of the head several times with his right hand.

Zadorov held his left arm far enough back that his elbow prevented several punch attempts from landing. Ultimately, he wrapped up the rookie and brought him down as a defensive player, sacking a quarterback before the officials jumped in.

Stienburg’s father, an NHL scout who played parts of four seasons with the Quebec Nordiques, recorded video of the fight on his phone.

Zadorov was given two minutes extra for the strike. Colorado scored on the ensuing power play to cut the Boston lead to 4-2 and controlled the momentum for the remainder of the period.