The Minnesota Wild are trying to steal as many points as possible, with their superstar Kirill Kaprizov out with an injury. Meanwhile, the Nashville Predators are trying to keep their season from spiraling out of control and out of playoff contention for the entire new year.
Those were the circumstances entering the matchup between these two Central Division rivals on New Year’s Eve night. Early on, it became very clear that both clubs came into this contest ready to set a certain tone. Like a… “I’m going to beat your face in” kind of tone.
Back-to-Back fights break out between Minnesota Wild and Nashville Predators
Before Tuesday night’s Wild vs Predators game was three minutes old, there were already two players from each team in the penalty box. This, after back-to-back fights broke out between the two teams around the 17-minute mark of the first period.
The first brawl was between veteran skate fighter Marcus Foligno and 27-year-old Predators defender, Jeremy Lauzon. Then, as soon as the puck dropped again, Minnesota’s Ben Jones was dropped by 21-year-old rookie Zach L’Heureux before the camera’s could even get re-focused.
According to HockeyFights.com, the 33-year-old Foligno celebrated his 100th NHL fight earlier this month (regular season + postseason), when he battled in Vegas against Keegan Kolesar, a fight in which voters said he won 26 votes to 3. I’d say he’ll probably get the nod in his 101st (above) fight too.
Ben Jones might want to take some lessons because whatever happened between he and Zach L’Heureux, but it didn’t end well for Jones, who caught a mean right that knocked him off his skates nearly immediately after the camera finally realized what was going on and shifted its focus to the second fight in the first three minutes of tonight’s game between the Nashville Predators and Minnesota Wild.
In the second period Tuesday, L’Heureux was kicked out of the game for a brutal major slew footing penalty on Jared Spurgeon, who needed help getting off the ice and down the tunnel to the locker room.
