“One Punch Changed Everything!” — How Mark Kastelic Ignited Chaos and Dragged the Boston Bruins Back From the Brink

The Bruins tied up their playoff series with a 4-2 victory over the Sabres in Buffalo on Tuesday night. Everything changed when Mark Kastelic and Logan Stanley started fighting.

Marco Sturm’s team came into the game down 1-0 after losing the first game on Sunday. They responded with hard hits and good defense.

Kastelic, who plays as Boston’s fourth-line center, found a big opponent in Stanley, the 6-foot-7 defenseman for the Sabres, who usually wins fights just because of his size.

Both teams knew they had to make a change in this series. Buffalo won Game 1 with a score of 4-3 while the Bruins seemed off their game that night.

Not this time, though. Boston hit back, both physically and on the scoreboard.

Kastelic is bringing a lot of good energy into this series. The 27-year-old scored 3 goals in his last 5 games before the playoffs, and he’s been playing more minutes than you’d expect from a fourth-liner.

Marco Sturm finally got the tough play he was looking for. Stanley has size and isn’t afraid to be physical. He had a plus-3 rating over his last 5 regular-season games and has been a reliable, if quieter, player on the defense.

But neither of these players fights just for fun. This was a statement. Boston’s not going to let Buffalo push them around again.

Can a fight from the fourth line really change the outcome of a playoff series? Sometimes it can. The team on the bench starts to feel energized.

The Bruins had a solid record against Buffalo in the regular season, going 3-1, with two of those games ending in overtime. So, the competition was always going to be very close and heated.

Game 3 will be held at TD Garden on Thursday with the series tied at 1-1. Sturm’s team gets to play at home, in front of a loud crowd, and their lineup is ready to show what they can really do.

Ruff is going to make changes. He always finds a way. The important thing to consider is if his best six players can keep pace when the Bruins choose to ignore the referee’s calls and the match shifts into a tough, relentless fight like in the past.