For those of you who are late to the game, here's how the brawl between Buffalo and Ottawa was sparked last night:
It all began 5:07 into the second period with Buffalo up 3-2 and after Drury was bowled over by a blind-side hit by Ottawa's Chris Neil. Drury had just snapped a shot on net from the right circle when Neil, without slowing, hit Drury from behind.The hit knocked Drury's helmet off and sent him flying. Drury lay on the ice with blood flowing from his forehead, while Sabres rookie Drew Stafford fought Neil, both receiving 5-minute fighting penalties.
Neil, however, was not penalized for his hit on Drury, who made his own way to the locker room after being helped up. Drury, who scored his 33rd goal earlier in the game, did not return because of what the Sabres described only as a head injury.
Which reminded me of something Donald Brashear told me after a Caps game a couple of weeks ago for a column I wrote for NBC on fighting and the instigator penalty:
"It's not the same (since the end of the lockout) and it makes it that much harder. ... Before that's how you would get your message across. If you do something wrong I could be coming the other way," Brashear said. But now, Brashear said, there are a number of physical players who are taking liberties with skill players that they wouldn't normally have in the past.In particular, Brashear singled out Chris Neil of the Ottawa Senators as just one such player.
For the audio of that interview with Brashear, click here (MP3).
