MONTREAL — Four seconds after puck drop, Nikita Zadorov fought Jayden Struble. Then at 3:52, Arber Xhekaj accepted Tanner Jeannot’s invitation. Boston Bruins coach Marco Sturm joked he was watching the U.S.-Canada three-fight melee at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

“Why not?” Zadorov said with a smile after the Bruins’ 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens. “Saturday night. Bell Centre. Big rivalry. Used to be a big rivalry. Maybe it’s new again. Just tried to get the boys going and everything.”

Fighting is part of the 2025-26 Bruins’ identity. It just so happens that Fraser Minten is riding between two of the brashest Bruins when it comes to gloves-off activity. Playing with Jeannot and Mark Kastelic would make anybody feel 10 feet tall, especially a 21-year-old. It allows Minten to build on his three-zone game, improve his details and wait for his wingers to flex their muscles if anybody even looks at him sideways.

“He just feels free,” Sturm said. “He doesn’t have to worry about anything because they have his back. That’s good to hear. That shows a little bit (of) the way they play as a line.”

Jeannot got the better of Xhekaj by cuffing the defenseman on the side of his head. Jeannot’s punch knocked Xhekaj’s helmet off and sent his opponent to the ice.

NOW TANNER JEANNOT MAKES QUICK WORK OF ARBER XHEKAJ 🫨👊 pic.twitter.com/SAH9FEDGkf

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) November 16, 2025

Two nights earlier, Jeannot took on the Ottawa Senators’ Kurtis MacDermid, one of the NHL’s toughest fighters. Jeannot did well. It might have even inspired Minten to engage in a throwdown in the future.

“If you look at a guy like MacDermid, I probably don’t want to start there,” Minten said with a smile. “But definitely something. I’m a competitive guy. It’ll come at some point.”

As for Kastelic, the No. 3 right wing tried to join in the fun. Later in the first period, Josh Anderson ran over Jonathan Aspirot. Kastelic charged after the Montreal forward, dropped his gloves and got ready to throw. Anderson kept his gloves on. Kastelic was sent off for roughing.

But Kastelic made up for his exuberance by being a trustworthy player. He plays 16:13, fourth-most among team forwards. Sturm gave the rugged right wing 1:16 of time on the No. 2 power-play unit. Kastelic played 3:36 on the penalty kill. He was on the ice for the six-on-five endgame when Sam Montembeault was off for an extra attacker.

Part of Kastelic’s bump in ice time is because the Bruins are down a right-shot faceoff man in Elias Lindholm. But Kastelic is earning his minutes in other ways, too.

“He made it easy for me,” Sturm said of riding Kastelic. “It’s always good to have him out there as a righty for faceoffs, first of all. We don’t have that after we lost Lindy. He’s really good on draws. He has a good motor. He fights. He plays hard. Any loose pucks, he’s in there. That’s what I like and that’s why I trust him.”

Sturm, in fact, trusts all three third-liners in man-down situations. Minten played 3:03 on the penalty kill. Jeannot logged 1:42 of short-handed ice time. The Bruins went 7-for-7 on the PK. They also killed two five-on-three power plays.

“Outstanding,” Zadorov said of the kill. “Definitely won us a game. Guys were laying on the ice. Blocking shots. Putting their faces in the shooting lane and everything. We take pride of it. It stepped up big today and got us two points for sure.”

Jeannot and Kastelic have played themselves into the rotation in ways they did not last year, the former with the Los Angeles Kings. Jeannot averaged just 11:01 of ice time per game in 2024-25. He did not kill penalties. Kastelic averaged 10:04 of playing time per appearance. He was not a regular killer either.

Jeannot is up to 13:20 per game this year, including 1:57 on the penalty kill. Kastelic is at 13:19 overall and 2:22 on the PK. They are legitimate third-line wings.

“They’re not just tough,” Minten said. “They’re all good hockey players, too. It’s a treat to play with those guys. Our whole team has done a good job of playing with that toughness, a bit of snarl. (Jeffrey Viel) too. He always does a good job of that. Zaddy on the back end. They’re guys you don’t want to be on the ice with if you’re on the other team.”