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.
