WATCH: Charlie McAvoy delivers a huge hit on Sam Reinhart 15 seconds into Game 4

Boston Bruins defenceman and alternate captain Charlie McAvoy delivered a massive hit on Florida Panthers’ Sam Reinhart in the opening seconds of Game 4 on Sunday. The lightning fast hit to the head saw McAvoy lose his stick and Reinhart had to scramble to his feet after hitting the ice.

The Bruins hosted the Panthers for Game 4 of the second round of their playoffs series at TD Garden. Just 15 seconds into the first period, Charlie McAvoy skated into Sam Reinhart from the opposite direction near the Panthers’ blue line.

Taking the quick opportunity of the contact, McAvoy caught Reinhart with his head down and delivered a clean but heavy hit to the Panthers’ player.

Watch the full clip here:

The blow was drilled with such force that the defenceman's stick flew out of his hand and onto the ice. Sam Reinhart had to scramble back to his feet while a stick-less McAvoy joined his team’s chase in pursuit of the puck.

The hit seemed more of a statement instead of a necessity in the course of play as the Bruins had previously made it clear after Game 3 that their players will not be taking hits lightly going forward, especially after Brad Marchand’s injury.

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Bruins want to go after Panthers’ ‘top guys’ after captain Brad Marchand’s injury

Boston Bruins’ captain Brad Marchand was forced to exit their Game 3 with an upper body injury, which had seemingly resulted from a questionable punch from Sam Bennett in the game prior.

This did not sit well with most of the Bruins players and center Pavel Zacha even indicated that they would retaliate for the hit going forward in the series.

“I think we have to really go after their top guys,” Zacha said. “To let them know it's not OK. To go after our captain, that's not OK with us. We're ready to be physical again today and be a little bit harder on them.”

Bruins center Trent Frederic had mentioned after the game that the incident had angered everyone on the Boston team. He added that the Panthers, in general, tended to provoke frustration among his teammates.

“I think it pissed off everyone. I think that whole team kind of ticks everyone off, to be honest," said Bruins center Trent Frederic.

Bruins’ forward Trent Frederic echoed similar sentiments after Game 3. He said they weren't fully aware of the severity of the play until after the game when they saw the replay.

“I'm sure all these refs are aware of what happened in the last three games and what happened last game," he said. "In a perfect world, where we can just go do something about it and it's an eyeball for an eyeball.”

However, the player also acknowledged that it might be too challenging to retaliate immediately, given the spotlight will be brightly on his team.