A First, A Second
Wade Belak lands a shot against Georges Laraque.
AP Photo/Alan Diaz
Lots of action last night. Riley Cote and Andre Roy dropped the gloves twice during the Flyers 3-2 victory over the Lightning. The first fight was a back and forth, mostly even affair. The second was all Cote, dropping Roy quickly with a left.
With those two fights Cote now has 21 fighting majors for the season, putting him third on the leaders list.
Wade Belak got into his first fight in a Panthers jersey. He wasted no time taking on fellow heavyweight Georges Laraque, just under five minutes into the game. It was quite the introduction to the Florida crowd, and the Panthers scored just six seconds later, keeping the cheers going.
The Wild–Hurricanes game had a couple of scraps. In the first period, Sean Hill threw a hit on Wade Brookbank, a bit of a scrum ensued and Todd Fedoruk took on Tim Conboy.
In the third period Aaron Voros crushed Eric Staal from behind. Erik Cole came flying in to take on Voros. Cole picked up 19 PIMs for that due to an instigator call, plus an extra two for wearing the visor. It wasn’t all bad for Cole, who scored mid-way through the second to break the 2-2 tie. It was the game-winner, and Cole was named first star of the game.
Tempers flared at the end of the Preds–Canucks game. After Vernon Fiddler hit Kevin Bieksa with the puck, Bieksa fired it back at him. Players gathered near the benches and Bieksa went in looking for a fight. Bieksa threw a couple of punches at Fiddler and Greg de Vries then ripped Bieksa out of the pile and the two squared off at center ice.
Elsewhere: Alexei Ponikarovsky was on the receiving end of some punches from Shane Hnidy after Ponikarovsky slashed Marco Sturm. Brian McGrattan played in his first game since Feb 23 and dropped the gloves against Raitis Ivanans.
Videos added
Greg de Vries vs Kevin Bieksa Mar 6, 2008
Georges Laraque vs Wade Belak Mar 6, 2008
Andre Roy vs Riley Cote Mar 6, 2008 (Round 2)
Andre Roy vs Riley Cote Mar 6, 2008 (Round 1)
Aaron Voros vs Erik Cole Mar 6, 2008
Todd Fedoruk vs Tim Conboy Mar 6, 2008
Alexei Ponikarovsky vs Shane Hnidy Mar 6, 2008
For whatever reason my dvr didn’t feel like recording Ott-LAK, despite me watching it and the red rec light being on. Awesome. No eta on that, for the moment.
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