Taylor Hall gets into 1st NHL fight in a decade with Scott Mayfield

Taylor Hall's scoring touch was precisely what the Boston Bruins needed for another deep playoff run. Now, Hall is showing some unexpected grit in the heat of his team's second-round series against the New York Islanders.

Hall got tangled up with Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield during the first period of Saturday's Game 4, and the sequence escalated after he finished his check. Mayfield flung Hall to the ground, using his stick for additional leverage, and the former Hart Trophy winner was none too pleased about it.

It was a spirited effort, but to little surprise, Mayfield got the best of Hall. This was Hall's first NHL fight since March 2011, and his first fight at any level since an AHL stint with the Oklahoma City Barons in December 2012, prior to the NHL ending the lockout leading up to the 2012-13 campaign.

The opening frame was chippy, and the Hall-Mayfield fight was just a sign of things to come. Boston's Jarred Tinordi and New York's Matt Martin would also throw down mere minutes later. Martin got the best of Tinordi in this fight.

On a line with Craig Smith and David Krejci, Hall's speed and skill has taken some of the pressure off Boston's top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak to generate scoring. While we're not necessarily thrilled about one of the playoffs' most interesting players dropping the gloves, no one appeared to be harmed and it added some additional life into an already hotly-contested series.

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