Meet Mac

When Steve MacIntyre crushed Dustin Boyd in the corner, Brandon Prust came flying in to defend his teammate, setting up MacIntyre’s first NHL fighting major. Mac didn’t take it easy on Prust, unloading shots on his smaller counterpart.

The Oilers were trailing the Flames 2-0 at the time. Minutes later the Oilers were on the road to a comeback, quickly scoring three goals, then holding the lead for the victory. Big Mac was credited with the spark needed.

“That was a momentum turner for us,” said Andrew Cogliano, who had one more gear than just about everyone else on the ice in Edmonton’s 3-2 win.
“We were joking on the bench that we hadn’t seen a hit like that in a long time. The guy that took the hit, we feel bad for him. And then Mac fights the guy right after that and wins.
“That’s a big boost for the team, and we didn’t have that last year.”

More on MacIntyre’s introduction:
Big Mac attack at Rexall
‘Stevie Sparkplug’
Smack-Intyre!!!

Elsewhere

It was a fairly busy day in the NHL, starting with a trio of fights in the lone day game, between the Avalanche and Stars. The highlight was Ian Laperriere and Steve Ott facing off in a battle of the pests.

Georges Laraque got the home crowd roaring again in the Habs win over the Coyotes. He made easy work of a reformed Todd Fedoruk, who was rightfuly cautious against Big Georges. Kurt Sauer also squared off against the always willing Tom Kostopoulos.

Patrick Kaleta took a few shots from Chris Thorburn in the Thrashers shootout win.

The Blue Jackets and Predators dropped the gloves a couple of times. Derek Dorsett and Greg de Vries went at it after de Vries was liberal with his stick. Jordin Tootoo took on tough Norwegian Ole-Kristian Tollefsen thanks to an extra bump after a whistle.

In the late game of the evening, Riley Cote and Jody Shelley had a highlight reel-worthy heavyweight battle. Shelley’s quickly becoming as popular in San Jose as he was in Columbus.

Videos added

Riley Cote vs Jody Shelley Oct 18, 2008
Brandon Prust vs Steve MacIntyre Oct 18, 2008
Ole-Kristian Tollefsen vs Jordin Tootoo Oct 18, 2008 x2
Derek Dorsett vs Greg de Vries Oct 18, 2008 x2
Patrick Kaleta vs Chris Thorburn Oct 18, 2008
Todd Fedoruk vs Georges Laraque Oct 18, 2008 x2
Kurt Sauer vs Tom Kostopoulos Oct 18, 2008 x2
Cody McCormick vs Nicklas Grossman Oct 18, 2008
Cody McLeod vs B.J. Crombeen Oct 18, 2008
Ian Laperriere vs Steve Ott Oct 18, 2008
Chris VanLaren vs Kevin Hudes Oct 18, 2008
Tyler Sheldrake vs Mike Mascioli Oct 18, 2008
Kyle Clifford vs Michael Neal Oct 18, 2008
Stefan Della Rovere vs Daniel Lombardi Oct 18, 2008
Stefan Della Rovere vs Matt Martin Oct 18, 2008
Dean Arsene vs Matt Clackson Oct 17, 2008
Blake Comeau vs Jean-Philippe Cote Oct 17, 2008
Darren Reid vs Jeff Szwez Oct 17, 2008
Jason Pitton vs Deryk Engelland Oct 17, 2008