The Bruins evened their series against the Hurricanes with a 5-2 victory at TD Garden on Sunday. Boston's second consecutive win sparked a budding rivalry between the two teams, and two players in particular: Brad Marchand and Tony DeAngelo.
The distaste between Marchand and DeAngelo seemed to boil over at the end of the first period. The two got into a jawing match after the horn, as the Hurricanes surrounded Marchand as he skated through their zone and off the ice.
Officials separated Marchand from the Hurricanes to prevent a physical confrontation. That didn't prevent the long-time Bruins winger from yelling something in DeAngelo's direction.
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Amateur lip readers posited that Marchand called DeAngelo a racist, a reference to two suspensions DeAngelo received while in the OHL for violating the league’s policy covering "homophobic, racist, and sexist language."
Sure seems like it: pic.twitter.com/Vk0MhtnJZy https://t.co/08DFoUdRse
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) May 8, 2022
That insult could also have been a nod to rumors of DeAngelo's poor relationship with Rangers defenseman K'Andre Miller. The Rangers refuted those rumors after DeAngelo's release, which stemmed from multiple run-ins with the coaching staff as well as a physical confrontation with goalie Alexandar Georgiev.
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But what exactly did Marchand say? He addressed the confrontation with a flippant remark, per usual.
"It wasn’t much of an exchange,” Marchand said after the game, per NESN. “I didn’t even know he was around me. Kind of came out of nowhere. There really wasn’t much of one. Just saying, ‘Hey, how’s your Mother’s Day?”
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While others may appreciate Marchand's sense of humor, DeAngelo apparently didn't. He was on edge during the rest of Carolina's loss and was penalized after cross-checking Curtis Lazar midway through the third period. He also threw his stick in Marchand's direction as the Bruins winger attempted the game-sealing empty-net goal.
Brad Marchand scores an empty-netter and Tony DeAngelo throws his stick at him: pic.twitter.com/dvr3QziLmu
— Evan Marinofsky (@EvanMarinofsky) May 8, 2022
Suffice to say that Marchand, who had two goals and three assists on Sunday, got the better of DeAngelo. Now, the 26-year-old defenseman will look to return the favor in Game 5 on Tuesday night.
