When Juraj Slafkovsky chose to fight Brandon Hagel, a 22-year-old player, on Tuesday night, he learned a difficult lesson.
At Amalie Arena, during Game 2 of the series between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens, the fight broke out. Slafkovsky crashed hard to the ground after receiving a heavy blow from Hagel.
The young Slovakian player had a difficult time.
Slafkovsky’s thoughts must be perplexing to Martin St-Louis. With 73 points and 30 goals, Slafkovsky concluded the regular season, costing the team $7.6 million against the salary cap. He’s known for his scoring, not his fighting.
He has no reason to confront Hagel. A coach hopes his finest players won’t make the mistake of trading one hit for an injury to their top winger.
As the game progresses, the Lightning and Canadiens’ series is getting more intense.
Hagel scored 36 goals and had 74 points in 71 games, with a cap hit of $6.5 million, finishing with a plus-34. During the whole season, he stretched the rules to their breaking point. Jon Cooper purposely places him in that position.
This show was already becoming very violent.
Brayden Point was struck in the face with a stick after Hagel and Kaiden Guhle were involved in a game. After Game 1, Cooper chastised his team for their lack of discipline in penalties.
And now this. There are some heavy hits, battles that burst out, and both teams have obviously given up on acting as though they enjoy each other.
Slafkovsky is not required to demonstrate his bravery. He has already demonstrated his value by scoring 30 goals during the regular season, with 15 of those goals coming on the power play where Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield excel.
The Canadiens need him to be playing on the ice, not sitting in the penalty box or resting in the trainer’s room.
Hagel is not going to say sorry. He has never done that. The best player on the Lightning took on the challenge, took the kid down, and went to the penalty box while the Tampa bench cheered loudly.
This is what Cooper is looking for in this series. If Hagel keeps playing like that without causing a penalty for his team, Tampa could really do well in Game 2.
St-Louis has two periods to show his team what it takes to win this matchup. It’s not about fighting Brandon Hagel.
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