Patrice Bergeron: The Intensity Is High

He said the fight was nothing more than a product of the energy that’s thumping at this time of year and couldn’t chalk it up to anything specific. Bergeron did take a penalty on Malkin in the first period, hooking him when Malkin had a great scoring chance.

“I don’t know. He just grabbed me from the side and we just kept pushing each other,” he said. “I don’t fight that much, either.

“It’s part of the playoffs, right? We know the emotions are high, the intensity is high and the games are big. I wasn’t really surprised. It just happened.”