The outrageous reason why Nikita Zadorov refused to fight Max Domi!

Last night, Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews was forced to leave the game against the Boston Bruins after he was hit from behind by defenseman Nikita Zadorov forcing him to fall awkwardly into the sideboards.

The Leafs were unhappy with the hit, saying Matthews was left vulnerable on the play, and it prompted teammate Max Domi to look for retribution as he wanted to fight Zadorov.

However, the Bruins’ blue liner simply hugged it out and fell to the ice with Domi in his arms, a quick end to the fight.

I mean you have to respect Domi here. The 5’10” forward was ready to take on Zadorov, who is 6’7”. However, after the game, which was won 5-3 by Boston, Zadorov explained why he refused to drop the gloves with Domi:

“I’m not going to fight my friends. We won a championship together in OHL, I have respect for Max .. And he’s so much smaller than me. It’s a lose-lose for me if I fight him.”

For a guy like Zadorov, who's never been afraid to fight or create controversy, this is a funny answer behind his refusal to fight a former teammate. I don't think it has stopped him in the past, but this is the reason he offered on Tuesday night.

Not sure how Domi reacted to Zadorov’s reason for not accepting his invitation to fight… However for now, the Maple Leafs have bigger fish to fry.

After the game, head coach Craig Berube had no immediate update on Matthews’ condition.

“We’ll see tomorrow. Right now it’s lower body, we’ll just see tomorrow how he is,” Berube said post-game.

Matthews finished the game with 10:51 of ice time and one hit. He is expected to be evaluated shortly and we will keep you posted on his condition.

Through 16 games this season, Matthews has collected nine goals and 14 points and is averaging a career-high 21:54 of ice time.

Unfortunately for Toronto, the club also announced that goaltender Anthony Stolarz, who was replaced after the first period by Dennis Hildeby, suffered an upper-body injury and exited the game as a result.