Perhaps it would have been better to wait to the start of game three, however, I find a punch to the head, or multiple punches, much more understandable when done in the spur of the moment rather than in a calculated way.
Personally, I find turtling cowardly in all situations, you seem to believe it to be correct and defensible in this occurrence. I can't say you're wrong, it just differs from my prehistoric thinking.
I think Knoblach would rather have Betz take on Yak and be available for games 3,4,and 5 but that isn't what happened. It's a team game, next man up.