Ovechkin declines fight with Bruins rookie, spears him in the groin instead
This was quite possibly disaster averted for Trent Frederic's face.
Some NHL players, like Carolina's Andrei Svechnikov, found out the unfortunate way just how hard Alex Ovechkin can throw his hands. Others (most players) who compete against No. 8 on a regular basis know not to even think about squaring off with that dude.
Frederic, however, is a different breed and a super tough kid, and was just aching for a scrap with the taller, heavier Russian behemoth all night long, especially in the third period when the Bruins rookie snapped his gloves, grabbed Ovechkin by the collar and offered him a little go time.
Ovechkin wasn't fighting Trent Frederic 😂 pic.twitter.com/deq2rA3kgj
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) March 4, 2021
After realizing Ovechkin was having none of it, Frederic hilariously retreated, picked up his mitts, and carried on like nothing happened.
Things then cooled down between the two for, like, 20 seconds, before both were in each other's kitchens rattling the pans around again.
The battle boiled over moments after the initial false alarm, with both sword-fighting and exchanging shots before the turf war culminated with Ovechkin delivering a greasy and stupidly painful death blow to Frederic's nether regions.
Damn, man.
Update pic.twitter.com/gyp5bbG8bN
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) March 4, 2021
There are, of course, many potential reasons why Ovechkin turned down the scrap with Frederic. He wouldn't want himself out of a close game for five minutes, for one.
That aside, I just wanted to give our goal-scoring overlord the benefit of the doubt and assume another major reason he turned down the scrap was to spare another young, inexperienced go-getter the same awful fate he delivered to Svechnikov.
But then he went and delivered that absolute dagger to the rookie's groin, so yeah, it was definitely just the game situation.
Update: It was announced Thursday morning that Ovechkin was fined $5,000, the maximum allowable amount under the collective bargaining agreement.
Washington’s Alex Ovechkin has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for Spearing Boston’s Trent Frederic.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) March 4, 2021