Hockey players are used to taking some pretty hard hits. No matter how hard the cross-check, though, we'd like to think this young fan's pregame fist bump was the most impactful hit the Bruins felt the whole game.
The Boston Globe has identified the fan as Liam Fitzgerald, an 8-year-old boy who has Down syndrome -- and a superhero-sized heart:
Though he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at age 4, young Liam beat the cancer over the following three-and-a-half years, and became a huge Bruins fan in the process, too.
Here's a photo of him chatting with Bruins center Patrice Bergeron during Tuesday night's game:
Liam's fist bumps seem to have worked their magic: WCVB reports the Bruins beat the Panthers in overtime.
WATCH the young fan hand out fist bumps to hockey players, above.
H/T Reddit