Justin Holl drops the gloves and gets destroyed by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins after huge hit on Kailer Yamamoto
As the Toronto Maple Leafs travelled to Alberta to take on Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers in their second straight road game, tensions started to flare late in the third period as the Leafs found themselves trailing 5-2.
With just under nine minutes remaining, Leafs defenseman Justin Holl took a run behind the net at Oilers forward Kailer Yamamoto which sent the diminutive forward crashing to the ice, and eventually into concussion protocol. In response, Oilers winger Ryan Nugent-Hopkins charged at Holl, and the two dropped the gloves.
Holl answered the call in an effort to reinvigorate the Leafs bench and surge for one last push towards a potential comeback. Despite this, the matchup was out of the ordinary. The fight tonight was both Holl and Nugent-Hopkin's fourth fight appearance of their careers. Nugent-Hopkins has a small six-foot 184-pound frame whereas Holl on the other hand, is six-foot-three and 197 pounds.
The two are not known as fighters, especially for Nugent-Hopkins being the type of conservative and laid-back player that he is. Regardless of his size, playstyle, and history, Nugent-Hopkins very clearly took it to Holl in this tilt. In the video, Nugent-Hopkins seemed to land four to five solid punches to Holl while he was trying to protect himself before he eventually brought down the sixth-year defenseman.
As Holl looks to fight for his position and role on this team, this certainly won't help his case just one day ahead of the trade deadline.
| POLL | ||
MARS 2 | 508 ANSWERS Justin Holl drops the gloves and gets destroyed by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins after huge hit on Kailer Yamamoto If you were Kyle Dubas, what would you do with Justin Holl? | ||
| Keep him, but only as depth | 80 | 15.7 % |
| Keep him in the regular lineup | 36 | 7.1 % |
| Trade him | 392 | 77.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
