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.<\/p>\n
But something got into him on Saturday night at the Garden.<\/p>\n
After he dropped the gloves with San Jose\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Jeannot couldn\u2019t resist.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a good game, 2-2, third period,\u201d recalled Jeannot after Monday\u2019s practice at Warrior Ice Arena. \u201cWe needed to bring it home. I was just trying to get the crowd in it, get the energy up. There\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was also Jeannot\u2019s first bout of the year, but it\u2019s not like he\u2019s declining a whole lot of invitations. There\u2019s 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\u2019s in 2025-26, he won most of them by a lopsided margin.<\/p>\n
Fighting is not all Jeannot can do \u2013 he did have a 24-goal season in Nashville in 2021-22, though he hasn\u2019t broken double digits since \u2014 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\u2019 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\u2019s run to a playoff spot.<\/p>\n
Jeannot was happy to get the kinks out on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was nice to get one, yeah,\u201d said Jeannot. \u201cObviously it\u2019s something that\u2019s part of my game. And not having one in the first stretch there\u2026it\u2019s not like I\u2019m thinking about it. But it\u2019s 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\u2019s nice to touch up the skills a little bit to get the feeling back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last season, Jeannot\u2019s line with Kastelic and Sean Kuraly helped to bring back some of the Bruins\u2019 old identity and was a big reason why the B\u2019s once again became the \u201ctough out\u201d that team president Cam Neely and GM Don Sweeney were trying to accomplish.<\/p>\n
This season, Matt Poitras has supplanted Kuraly as the centerman thus far. The 6-foot, 189-pound Poitras\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still trying to do the same things. He\u2019s a really skilled, smart player and I think he\u2019s been adjust well,\u201d said Jeannot. \u201cI\u2019m trying to help him out as much as I can, communicate, build that chemistry up as quickly as you can. I think he\u2019s doing a great job and just trying to do the little things. That\u2019s what we\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Skating with the likes of Jeannot and Kastelic has a way of giving Poitras a little more space for his skill to flourish.<\/p>\n
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