BOSTON – John Moore didn’t expect to get into a fight in his first game back from major shoulder surgery over the summer.
But somebody had to step up and step in with other teams taking runs at David Pastrnak the past couple of weeks, and it was Moore that did just that after Zack Smith blew up the NHL’s leading scorer with a borderline high hit in the third period of the Bruins' 4-3 overtime loss to the Blackhawks at TD Garden.
Smith handled Moore pretty easily in the ensuing altercation and it looked like the Bruins defenseman thought he re-injured his shoulder as he skated back to the dressing room afterward.
Still, the message was sent by Moore that the opposition wasn’t going to make it open season on Boston’s game-breaking right winger without paying a price for it. That says something about Moore in his first game back after missing the first 28 games with a grueling rehab from shoulder surgery, but it also says something about the rest of the Bruins that a guy coming off shoulder surgery was the one that had to finally do it.
“You can’t say enough about him, right? Here he is, coming off of shoulder surgery and obviously it’s a reaction thing. He’s not thinking about anything other than protecting his teammates. So, that just tells you all you need to know about his character,” said Bruce Cassidy. “Probably not the perfect guy in that situation coming off that injury, but good for him. He’ll earn a lot of respect in that locker room that he already had, but now even more.”
The good news for Moore was that his shoulder checked out okay after he finished with three shots on net, three hits and a couple of blocked shots in 16:11 of ice time. Still, more than any of the other plays in the game, Moore will be remembered for finally doing something about the runs teams have taken at Pastrnak while trying to slow him down offensively.
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“I don’t know if it was the smartest decision in the world, but I saw somebody take liberty with [Pastrnak] and thought it was my turn,” said Moore. “I’m totally fine and no issues [with my shoulder]. I was right there, I saw [the hit] and I didn’t like it. I thought something needed to be done so I acted on it. That’s just the way I am. I thought it had to be addressed there.
“I was excited [to return]. I wasn’t going to need any extra motivation going into this game. If anything I was trying to calm myself down. When you take almost 30 games watching, you have a lot of time to reflect, appreciate and be grateful to be a Boston Bruins and play in the NHL. It’s something I don’t take for granted.”
Perhaps now other players on the Bruins roster will be ready to follow Moore's lead as it appears teams aren't going to stop taking liberties with Pastrnak as long as it’s working to slow him a little offensively.
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