Lucic, Gudbranson fight Borowiecki, Jeannot in a pair of solid heavyweight scraps
On Tuesday night, the Calgary Flames faced off against the Nashville Predators in what could be a first round playoff preview.
Late in the first period, with the Flames on a Powerplay, Flames forward Milan Lucic engaged in a net front battle with Predator defensemen Mark Borowiecki. The two had a friendly chat while skating out to center ice before deciding the drop the mitts.
The Nashville Predators lead the league in fighting majors this season by a landslide, with 58 tilts. For reference, second place is the Anaheim Ducks with 36 fighting majors. Obviously, the Predators consider physicality part of their team identity and wanted to show the Flames they will stand up to anyone, including Milan Lucic.
It was not the first fight of the game, as minutes earlier Flames defensemen Erik Gudbranson fought Predators rookie Tanner Jeannot in a heavyweight tilt. The following whistle even had Matt Duchene and Matthew Tkachuk getting into it with one another.
The Flames are one of the toughest teams in the NHL this season, despite only have 19 fighting majors. The low fighting total for the team is likely due to players like Milan Lucic and Erik Gudbranson having trouble finding anyone willing to dance with them. As we saw above, both can do damage.
After seeing what we saw last night, who wouldn't want to see a Flames/Predators first round playoff series?
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 27 | 233 ANSWERS Lucic, Gudbranson fight Borowiecki, Jeannot in a pair of solid heavyweight scraps How far will the Flames go this post-season? | ||
| 1st round | 42 | 18 % |
| 2nd round | 103 | 44.2 % |
| 3rd round | 55 | 23.6 % |
| Stanley Cup Finals! | 33 | 14.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
