‘That place was a library tonight’: Bruins’ Zadorov trolls Islanders home crowd
The Boston Bruins picked up a crucial two points in the Eastern Conference standings with a 4-3 shootout victory over the New York Islanders on the road at UBS Arena on Tuesday night.
The win was the Bruins’ fourth in a row, and it moved their record to 8-7-0, good enough for third place in the Atlantic Division, with the caveat that the five teams directly behind them all have two games in hand.
Midway through the second period, Zadorov caused a massive stir when he went after New York’s star rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer with a cross-check to the face after a whistle.
ZADOROV GOES AFTER SCHAEFER AND CHAOS ENSUES pic.twitter.com/fgR7ToRdOj
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) November 5, 2025The Isles were quick to stand up for their young star, and Zadorov wound up with an interference penalty on the initial play, a roughing infraction against Schaefer for the hit to the face and a roughing minor against Anders Lee. Lee and Anthony Duclair were assessed roughing penalties for their actions sticking up for Schaefer.
After the win, standout defenseman Nikita Zadorov took to social media to expose the direct messages he received during and after the game from Islanders fans in response to the incident.
“Get out of my DMs and go to the rink to cheer for your team,” Zadorov wrote on his Instagram story over a screenshot of his DM page. “THAT PLACE WAS LIBARY [sic] TONIGHT!!!”
Athletes receiving abusive messages in their social media inboxes is nothing new, especially with the proliferation of legalized gambling and player prop markets.
Zadorov’s chirp harkens back to a more old-fashioned form of online trolling, one centered around gloating to a fan base whose team he’d just help beat.
The imposing 30-year-old Russian defenseman is in his second season as a member of the Bruins, and he’s quickly become a leader on the roster and a fan favorite for both his play and personality.
The former Sabre, Avalanche, Flame, Blackhawk and Canuck signed a six-year, $30 million contract in free agency last summer, and he appeared in 81 regular season games a year ago. Zadorov netted four goals and dished out 18 assists for 22 points. He also managed to skate to a career-best plus-25 rating on a team that finished with a goal differential of -50.
The second Bruins defenseman to go by “Big Z” has four points and a plus-2 rating along with 24 penalty minutes through 15 games so far this season. He’s blocked 22 shots as a reliable defensive presence and continued to assert his physical will on games with 56 hits.