Nikita Zadorov is not a man you want to mess with, whether that be on the ice or on social media.
New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer learned that the hard way Thursday night after the Boston Bruins big man flattened him at UBS Arena, and so too did Islanders fans who flooded Zadorov’s direct messages on Instagram afterward in defense of the No. 1 overall pick.
It was about halfway through the second period with the Islanders leading the Bruins 1-0 that Zadorov finished a check on Schaefer by hammering him hard into the boards. As Schaefer got up, he continued to hold onto Zadorov’s stick. In response, Zadorov shoved him back down onto the ice.
A melee broke out as soon as Zadorov laid his hands on Schaefer, with a swarm by blue and orange jerseys rushing to the rookie’s aid. Zadorov was given a minor penalty for interference on the play, as well as a double minor for roughing.
ZADOROV GOES AFTER SCHAEFER AND CHAOS ENSUES pic.twitter.com/fgR7ToRdOj
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) November 5, 2025
“I looked at my PIMs from last year,” Zadorov jokingly said of the incident to reporters on Long Island afterward. “I need to get them up this year.”
The Islanders didn’t find it all that funny.
“I just saw Big Z towering over him,” said Islanders forward Anthony Duclair. “Obviously, you want to protect your teammates, especially Schaef. We have each other’s backs in this locker room. We’re all brothers in here, and we’re going to do whatever it takes to protect each other.”
Islanders fans weren’t amused, either, as many messaged Zadorov directly on Instagram to voice their displeasure. However, it appears those online made a lot more noise than those who were actually in attendance at the game.
“Get out of my DMs And got to the Rink To cheer for your team,” Zadorov wrote in a post on his Instagram story. “THAT PLACE WAS A LIBRARY TONIGHT!!!”
Nikita Zadorov via instagram:
“Get out of my DMs And go to the Rink To cheer for your team THAT PLACE WAS LIBRARY TONIGHT!!!” pic.twitter.com/0l2XUjCyPM
— Robert Chalmers (@IvanIvanlvan) November 5, 2025
According to the NHL, there were 15,585 fans inside the arena.
Nevertheless, it was Zadorov and the Bruins had the last laugh, as they walked away with two points in a 4-3 shootout victory for their fourth win in a row.
“We’re a big, physical team that needs to create our own energy,” said Zadorov. “The crowd was sleeping today, a little bit, so I feel like we had to go out there and create our energy, get everybody going on the bench, and get excited. I thought we did a good job of it for. We stuck with it for 65 minutes and the shootout, and got a big two points.”
FOLLOW ANDREW FANTUCCHIO ON 𝕏: @A_FANTUCCHIO
FOLLOW BOSTON HOCKEY NOW ON 𝕏 AND FACEBOOK