When the Carolina Hurricanes acquired Nicolas Deslauriers, everyone knew he was going to take a beating in his first few games. But, I don't think many people expected him to fight before he even played his first match.
I highly doubt anyone doubted that the fight would be against a promoter with an equally renowned resume like Mathieu Ollivier. However, when Deslauriers skated past Ollivier during warmups and exchanged a few brief words, it appeared there might be a dust-up.
With the game almost halfway through, the Hurricanes were lifeless and needed a spark, and Deslauriers provided just that.
The clock stopped with 10:22 remaining in the second period as the gloves hit the cold, hard ice in the neutral zone. Deslauriers and Ollivier sized each other up, slowly approaching each other, before Deslauriers made the first swipe, followed by a punch.
From there, fists started flying – exchanging haymakers and yanking each other's sweaters. Amid the melee, a punch from Hurricane's enforcer left Olivier's jaw bloodied, however, the bleeding appeared to be caused by Deslauriers' broken knuckles.
For Deslauriers, it was the 137th fight of his career, and for Olivier, the 112th. Both held their positions well, and ultimately, neither won nor lost in terms of the war.
However, the spark it provided certainly gave the Hurricanes a momentary advantage, as Andrei Svechnikov scored Carolina's first, and sadly only, goal of the game before Deslauriers stepped out of the penalty box.
Discussion about dust-up
At the second intermission, Svechnikov was tapped for an interview, where he took some time to share his reaction to Deslauriers' contributions.
"It feels good, to be honest," he said. "You know, we haven't had that in a while, but it feels good. ...Yeah, big respect to them."
After the game, Deslauriers was asked about the fight.
"This is what I live for, you know," Deslauriers told the media. “I wish I could have scored a goal, but for me these are the moments when, you know, I feel I did something good.
“When you're in the box – I know sometimes I stay there for a long time – but when we score, and I'm there after my work, I'm as happy as if I'd scored a goal.”
WATCH: Nicolas Deslauriers takes the gloves with Columbus Blue Jackets enforcer Mathieu Ollivier in Hurricanes debut
