Brad Marchand dropped the gloves with 6'5 Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola last night and came out on top. The altercation came after a sequence of scrums just a few minutes earlier in the game. <a href='https://www.nhl.com/news/boston-bruins-florida-panthers-game-recap-march-26' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>The Boston Bruins defeated the Florida Panthers thanks to a late comeback in a game that was full of mischief and drama. </a> During the game, Bruins captain Brad Marchand made a rare move. <h3>Marchand drops the gloves with Mikkola</h3> The Bruins captain is known for being a pest, but the 5'9 forward rarely drops the gloves, for good reason. However, something about tonight was different as he felt the urge to go after a much larger Panthers defenseman. <q>BRAD MARCHAND drops the gloves with NIKO MIKKOLA?! 😱🥊</q> <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/GinoHard_/status/1772785553412387042'> </a></blockquote></div> Mikkola is listed at 6'5 according to the NHL, giving him eight inches on Marchand. That kind of size mismatch is rarely seen in the league, at least when it comes to fights. <q>5 FOOT 9 MARCHAND VS. 6 FOOT 5 MIKKOLA 🥊</q> <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1772784076937666799'> </a></blockquote></div> The fight came just minutes after Sam Bennet and Hampus Lindholm got into a scrap. While it wasn't really a traditional fight, Bennet was caught breaking part of the hockey player code when he continued to punch Lindholm after he was down on the ice. <q>Hampus Lindholm and Sam Bennett drop the gloves.</q> <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1772779778141016494'> </a></blockquote></div> Meanwhile, the rest of the players on the ice were involved in a scrum of their own. <q>Clearly still some animosity between the Bruins and Panthers 😳</q> <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/BR_OpenIce/status/1772779712445653461'> </a></blockquote></div> <h3>Marchand reflects on hard fought victory over Panthers</h3> After the game, Marchand talked about what the win meant. Obviously, it was important in the standings as the team now holds a two-point lead over the Panthers for 1st place in the Atlantic division. However, the win meant more than that for the team's moral. The Bruins captain talked about how it felt like a playoff game. <a href='https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/boston-bruins-florida-panthers-game-7-april-30-1.6827573' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>This is extra relevant as the Bruins will surely not want to recreate last year's playoff series against the Panthers. </a> <q>🎥 Brad Marchand on the #NHLBruins win over Florida: I thought it was a good effort by our group. That was a playoff-type game out there. Both teams played hard...a lot of fun to be part of a game like that. Great character win for us.</q> <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/1772820084664258953'> </a></blockquote></div> <a href='https://www.hockeypatrol.com/nhl-team/boston-bruins/breaking-marchand-may-face-suspension-after-brutal-hit' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>The Bruins captain has been involved in his fair share of questionable incidents this season.</a> That being said, tonight's events showed why the team made him their next captain. Source Markerzone: <a href='https://www.markerzone.com/news/index.php?no=354673&fbclid=IwAR1EfH_ENlNyJwPkev7y3fH25hq33ZLIY8rrlEz-IcG2x433lrWvkMisMpk' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Massive Brawl Breaks Out Between Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers</a>