Why the Jets captain chose to fight Bruins blueliner Nikita Zadorov

It was a night to forget for the Bruins, but they made sure to leave the Canada Life Center fighting.

The Winnipeg Jets cruised to an 8-1 win over Boston on Tuesday. The B’s gave up five goals in the third period and the only fight on display was literal brawls on the ice.

Trent Frederic dropped a young Jets center with one hit and Nikita Zadorov took on Winnipeg captain Adam Lowry. It was an interesting move for Lowry to challenge the Bruins blueliner, especially with the game spiraling out of control. But the 31-year-old didn’t hesitate much.

“You see one of your teammates go down and obviously I wasn’t happy with how it happened. I think you answer the bell,” Lowry told reporters, according to Carter Brooks of The Hockey News. “You go out there and hunt down probably their toughest guy, and then hopefully all the other things fall by the wayside.” It’s a must-win game. When we’re in this position, we don’t like losing. I don’t blame them. What happened is the nature of competitive sports. You just go out there and show your teammates that you have their back. That was my thought. However, my line tried to kill me. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.”

Zadorov brought Lowry down after exchanging shots on the ice. However, Boston wasn’t interested in moral victories after Tuesday’s loss and will look to bounce back on Thursday when it takes on the Seattle Kraken.