Capitals captain and future hall-of-famer Alex Ovechkin and Boston Bruins member Trent Frederic got into a couple of spats on Wednesday. The first came when the two collided and Frederic dropped his gloves, asking Ovi to fight. Ovi said no and they skated away. No penalty was called though Frederic clearly tried to instigate.
That wasn’t the end. Late in the game, Ovi and Frederic found each other again, with Frederic delivering a couple of cross-checks to Ovi, and Ovi saying the heck with it and slashing Frederic in the yam bags. For this, the two were called for matching minors.
Bruins fans were furious because cheap-shot artist Brad Marchand has been suspended for doing what Ovi did. I have a hard time sympathizing with them, though, as Frederic, who isn’t a great hockey player, was clearly trying to get under Ovi’s skin. Ovi didn’t take the bait at first, and instead of a prolonged tit-for-tat game of retaliation against a player he’s never heard of, Ovi decided to just end it. And nothing ends it quicker than what he did. The refs knew that, Ovi knew it, and even Frederic knew it.
Ovechkin ended up getting the first star of the game for his wonderful stick-handling skills.
k bud pic.twitter.com/NiPoAAakaa
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 4, 2021
https://twitter.com/HeresYourReplay/status/1367302104520531971
