Yet in another example of how NHL players are different than any other sport, Shawn Thornton stood up and admitted Thursday – after battling with Krys Barch of the Florida Panthers – that he was just fighting to stick up for his teammate and nothing else.

Midway through the first period, with the Bruins and Daniel Paille on the puck in their own defensive zone, Barch came over to the far corner boards to the left of Tim Thomas and drilled Paille up against the wall.

The force of the two heads colliding was so great that both went to the ice in a daze. When Barch got up, there waiting was Thornton to fight the Panthers forward, who had the nerve to lay what Claude Julien said was a “clean hit” on Paille. Truth be told, Barch did get two minutes for elbowing at the time but replays shows it was a shoulder hit and nothing more.

“I didn’t see it,” Thornton admitted. “I really didn’t, I still haven’t seen it. I just saw Paisey [Paille] laying there and obviously the type of team we are, I’m going to air on the side of sticking up for him. I mean, if it was a clean hit, then it was a clean hit but if it wasn’t, I’m glad we got in there. I mean for, especially guys like me and Soupy [Gregory Campbell] aren’t going to- we’re definitely going to step up if one of our teammates is laying there.

Campbell, indeed, was also ready to fight for Paille, having already dropped his gloves when Paille was drilled by Barch.

“Yeah, that’s my job- it’s both our jobs, I guess,” Thornton said. “Soupy [Gregory Caampbell] is a very, very character guy that, I mean, I’m very fortunate to play with a guy like that but I was trying to get over there at the same time and I think, I mean me and Mr. Barch [Krystofer Barch] have a history anyway so it’s, I take that upon myself, but I commend Soupy for getting in there right away too.

“We’re definitely, I mean especially for me and him I mean, that’s the type of players we are. I think we’re not going to let liberties be taken while were out there, that’s for sure. I was more focused on what I was doing and then I didn’t have a lot of time to think about it after, so wind out of the sails thing, I was on the other side of the rink so wrong guy to ask, I guess.”

Thornton did say the team felt better when they saw Paille in between periods, though they knew right away with a head injury, Paille was done for the night.

‘Well, I saw him in between periods so I think, a little bit of relief there, we were talking, so a little bit of relief there,” Thornton said. “I haven’t gotten an update on him but at least I had a conversation with him so that’s a little easier to take.”

Paille was sent to an area hospital after the game for tests to determine the severity of the injury and whether or not he suffered a concussion.

Just four minutes into Thursday’s slugfest at the Garden, Stars forward Adam Burish came in on Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask and fired a shot several seconds after the whistle had clearly blown, stopping play.

That is a big hockey no-no.

And Andrew Ference made sure Burish paid the penalty. The Bruins defenseman came over to enforce the hockey the law, eventually drawing Burish into a fight — which Ference clearly won — and a message had been sent. Don’t mess with these Bruins or you pay the price, especially on Boston’s home ice.

“We’re a tight group,” said Patrice Bergeron, who scored twice and assisted on an empty-netter. “We’ve always said that and we all know that. We’re … we get along real well off the ice and we try to bring that on the ice. I think that Ference fight is the best example just by showing that he took a shot after the whistle on Tuukka and Andy responded right away. So I think it’s … it showed our unity, and we’ve got to keep going.”

As for Ference himself, he said Thursday’s win showed how the Bruins can get back to being the right mix of talent and toughness, just like 2008-09, when they were the top seed in the East and a favorite to get to the Stanley Cup finals.

“One of the good things we did in that year, and something we’ve established over the last few is, when our team is emotionally and physically involved, we’re a very good team,” Ference said. “We’ve proven that the other way around, too. When it’s not there, we lose games. You know, go back to the Carolina series a couple years ago. I think that’s what almost all of us pointed our fingers at, it was missing. We know that that has to be there for us to be successful, and it was good [against Dallas].”

Bruins coach Claude Julien certainly had no problem with it.

“It was an opportunity for us to step up for each other, and we did and I thought it certainly played in our favor,” Julien said of the four fights in four minutes — three in the opening four seconds. “We’re a team that can handle that and guys seem to be ready for it and certainly that part of it was good. Those two quick goals also were proof that we were ready to play.” Read the rest of this entry »