Emotions tend to run high in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but the NHL’s first round matchup between the Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning is growing even more contentious than your typical series.
The bad blood was established during Friday night’s Game 2, when a wild brawl broke out towards the end of the game and several players exchanged blows. Detroit’s Justin Abdelkader was the most active participant in the shenanigans, and he received some heat for wailing on a somewhat defenseless Mike Blunden, who was seriously bloodied and needed stitches as a result.
It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Abdelkader found himself a target during Sunday’s Game 3 in Detroit, but he never actually had to drop the gloves to answer for his actions from the previous game. It wasn’t for a lack of effort on Brian Boyle’s part, however, as the Lightning forward did his best to try to fight Abdelkader immediately following the Wings’ 2-0 win.
Despite being engaged by Boyle, Abdelkader wouldn’t fully commit to dropping the gloves, instead alerting a nearby official that he wasn’t exactly interested in a battle of fisticuffs.
Boyle did not like this move one bit and, after finally giving up and skating away, he mocked Abdelkader with a chicken gesture.
Most puckheads will probably tell you that Abdelkader should’ve manned up and answered the bell, but he did have a solid excuse to turn Boyle down. Abdelkader’s hand was taped as a result of his fevered punching on Friday, and the NHL’s rulebook offers possible suspensions for players who fight with taped hands.
Any player wearing tape or any other material on his hands (below the wrist) who cuts or injures an opponent during an altercation will receive a match penalty in addition to any other penalties imposed including for fighting under this rule. A match penalty shall be assessed to a player who punches an unsuspecting opponent and causes an injury.
There’s no guarantee that Abdelkader would have cut or injured Boyle as a result of the fight, or that the NHL would have tried to seek supplemental discipline if it indeed happened. But the fact that there’s even the remote possibility of a fight ending in a match penalty, which carries an automatic suspension, is probably good enough reason for one of the Wings’ key players as they try to climb back into a playoff series.
Was it a ‘chicken’ move for Abdelkader to use the rulebook to duck out of the fight? That’s your call, but, again, the Lightning clearly took issue with Abdelkader’s actions in Game 2 and there’s a lot of hockey left to be played, so don’t be surprised if this thing boils over eventually. Boyle has a pretty deep history with Abdelkader, so he’s probably the most likely candidate to choke the chicken.
