heyeaglefn wrote:3 out of the top 4 teams leading the league in fighting majors are Buffalo, Columbus, and Edmonton.

Regardless of whether the hit was dirty or not, however, Flyers GM Ron Hextall thought it necessitated some sort of response.

"You gotta hit him back," Hextall told NJ.com. "Hit him or (Nicklas) Backstrom. That's how you respond these days."

....
Niskanen's not going to drop his gloves and fight anybody, so you can't just go and grab a guy and start punching,” said Berube. "You're going to get a five-minute major. I don't think it's a very smart move personally. Yeah, if the game's 5-0 at the time or something like that. It's a 1-0 game. We're trying to win the hockey game. You've got to be smart.”