Feb 1, 2023; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Wayne Simmonds (24) takes down Boston Bruins forward A.J. Greer (10) during a fight during the third period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

If you’re wondering why A.J. Greer agreed to let Wayne Simmonds beat the shit out of him, well, he had a simple reason. Why not?

Greer and Simmonds dropped the gloves Wednesday night in the Bruins’ 5-2 win over the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena – right after Greer had scored his fifth goal of the season. They immediately squared off after the faceoff at center ice. Safe to say Simmonds landed a pretty good first punch.

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• Simmonds you can understand, because he wanted to light a fire under his team after they’d gone down two goals. But why do that if you’re Greer? He was asked about the fight after the game and explained that he agreed to the fight in the heat of the moment because his emotions were running high after scoring.

  “I didn’t even think twice, I just said, ‘Yeah,’” Greer said during Bruins postgame coverage, via NESN’s Gio Rivera. “When I tried to hit him at first, I didn’t get a grip on him so it was hard for me to come back cause he has a long reach. But I protected myself and nothing came from it.

  “He had that reach against me so it was just a matter of making sure that I was gonna be safe in that situation but I just thought that I couldn’t say no to that just cause of the emotions I was going through.”

  Couldn’t say no?!

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• It’s understandable that Greer might’ve felt he had to accept the fight for integrity’s sake. But it’s hard to believe his teammates would’ve held it against him to let Nick Foligno go another round with Simmonds, perhaps Trent Frederic. Dropping the gloves at center ice right after scoring a goal was quite the absurd sequence.

  But hey, it was entertaining, and the Bruins ended up winning anyway. Didn’t shift the momentum at all. Now they all head into the All-Star Break on a high note. And Greer has a funny story about scoring and getting his ass kicked all within two minutes.

• Click here for complete Boston Bruins coverage and get weekly Bruins talk on the Sports Hub Underground podcast with Matt Dolloff and Ty Anderson.

  Matt Dolloff is a writer and podcaster for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Have a news tip, question, or comment for Matt? Yell at him on Twitter @mattdolloff and follow him on Instagram @realmattdolloff. Check out all of Matt’s content here.

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