When the most-recent incarnation of the BruinsCanadiens rivalry was at its height, a mutual hatred was born between players brought straight out of Central Casting. One is the brawling, brawny power forward voted amongst his peers as the most fearsome force in the NHL, and the other is the antagonistic force that keeps coming back for beating after beating.
Milan Lucic and Mike Komisarek dropped the gloves in another major brawl during Monday night's win, and it was equal parts frustration and anger for Bostons top left winger. Komisarek had pursued Lucic toward the benches and threw a shot at the Boston forward when it was clear the score was out of hand, and the Leafs were looking some way -- any way -- to change the game's momentum.
So how did Lucic react to the cross-checking infraction courtesy of his sworn enemy through the battles against Montreal and Toronto?
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About as violently as one would expect with Lucic throwing punches at the head of Komisarek, and all of nasty business contained therein. It wasn't as violent as the beating Lucic handed Komisarek when the then-Montreal defenseman ended up with a shoulder injury, but it was just as one-sided.In the end Lucic will always have mastery over Komisarek when it comes to the physical batles, and that wasn't going to change in the Toronto D-man's first hockey fight this season.
The Montreal fights seem like so long ago. But hes a guy whose definitely gonna compete and hes just trying to show some emotion in a time like that, said Lucic. Obviously, you dont ever like to be on the other end of things. Whatever happened, happened there. Fortunately for me I came out on top in the fight.
Hes a competitor. Hes the type of guy thats going to show that hes not gonna back down. Hes going to stick up for himself and, like I said, try to show some emotion. Youve definitely got to respect that.
It looked like the linesmen was going to step in between Lucic and Komisarek to cool things down, but both players wanted nothing to do with it at first. Despite a separated shoulder the last time Komisarekthen a Habs playerwas dropped by Lucic, he kept right on coming Monday night despite the circumstances.
It appears that decision was a little hasty considering the rain of punches that came down on Komisarek.
Komisarek and Lucic are both big bodies and there was plenty of pushing and shoving, and Komisarek even slipped a couple of punches toward Lucics face. But the Bs left wing returned Komisareks volley, and waited until the Maple Leafs opened up his chinwithin his hockey-fighting stance.Then Lucicunloaded four uppercut punches on Komisarek that snapped the Leafs defensemans head back, and left him red-faced gasping for air when the combatants were done. It was a heavy price paid to attempt jump-starting his hockey club when they were already trailing in the first period, and in the end it really didnt work for Komisarek.
Youre down a couple goals and we dont have any shots on net. Schenny Luke Schenn steps up and tries to show up by fighting Campbell, said Komisarek. Im not going to wait for Grabo Mikhail Grabovski to go out there and fight their tough guy.
"You go out there and just try to show up, and give a couple licks, take a couple licks, and step up I guess. So, its pretty tough.
In Komisareks case he certainly took a few heavy licks from No. 17, but it doesnt appear there was any lasting damage. So thats an improvement for a physical player that damaged his shoulder fighting with Lucic just a couple of years ago.