Tanner Jeannot is usually the most stoic of hockey brawlers. The Bruin enforcer often land his blows, machine-like, before matter-fo-factly skating to the penalty box.

But something got into him on Saturday night at the Garden.

After he dropped the gloves with San Jose’s Zack Ostapchuk and fed the Shark with a series of rights that gave him the clear decision early in the third period, Jeannot raised the cement blocks he calls hands up, up, up to exhort a Garden crowd that was already being treated to a wildly entertaining game.

Goals were being scored, his linemate Mark Kastelic had gotten into a fight with Michael Kesselring late in the second period and fun was being had by all.

Jeannot couldn’t resist.

“It was a good game, 2-2, third period,” recalled Jeannot after Monday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena. “We needed to bring it home. I was just trying to get the crowd in it, get the energy up. There’s nothing better than playing in front of the TD Garden fans on nights like that. Just trying to get them fired up, get the guys fired up. It ended up working. We got the win.”

It was also Jeannot’s first bout of the year, but it’s not like he’s declining a whole lot of invitations. There’s not a long line of guys who relish taking on the 6-foot-2, 222-pound Bruin wing. Of the nine bouts he had in his first season with the B’s in 2025-26, he won most of them by a lopsided margin.

Fighting is not all Jeannot can do – he did have a 24-goal season in Nashville in 2021-22, though he hasn’t broken double digits since — but it is still a skill that can come in handy despite it being less prevalent in the NHL these days. His well-timed bout against Columbus’ Erik Gudbranson last March, along with Kastelic going with Mathieu Olivier right after him, changed the momentum in a game that was pivotal in the B’s run to a playoff spot.

Jeannot was happy to get the kinks out on Saturday.

“It was nice to get one, yeah,” said Jeannot. “Obviously it’s something that’s part of my game. And not having one in the first stretch there…it’s not like I’m thinking about it. But it’s something I can do to stick up for my teammates. But you look around (the league) and you know maybe there are some guys you do have to fight and it’s nice to touch up the skills a little bit to get the feeling back.”

Last season, Jeannot’s line with Kastelic and Sean Kuraly helped to bring back some of the Bruins’ old identity and was a big reason why the B’s once again became the “tough out” that team president Cam Neely and GM Don Sweeney were trying to accomplish.

This season, Matt Poitras has supplanted Kuraly as the centerman thus far. The 6-foot, 189-pound Poitras’s added some finer skill, but given up some size and physicality from the 6-foot-2, 214-pound Kuraly. While points have come for Poitras (4-3-7 in nine games) the line’s identity has come into focus the last few games, especially in the 6-0 beat-down of the Nashville Predators last Thursday when the trio had several shifts spent almost entirely in the offensive zone.

“I’m still trying to do the same things. He’s a really skilled, smart player and I think he’s been adjust well,” said Jeannot. “I’m trying to help him out as much as I can, communicate, build that chemistry up as quickly as you can. I think he’s doing a great job and just trying to do the little things. That’s what we’ve got to continue to focus on and keep playing the way we can. Obviously, Kasty and I bring that physicality. Just focusing on our role, help him out as much as we can and help him build his game, too.”

Skating with the likes of Jeannot and Kastelic has a way of giving Poitras a little more space for his skill to flourish.