Red Wings-Flames Fights Spill Into Benches During Old-School Line Brawl

Who says fighting in hockey is gone?

Certainly not Detroit Red Wings defenseman Luke Witkowski, whose actions in a win over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday resulted in 35 penalty minutes in one sequence.

The Red Wings led comfortably with just under six minutes to play in the third period when Witkowski proceeded to get into a scrap with Flames defenseman Brett Kulak. As Witkowski skated off the ice on his way to the tunnel, though, Calgary’s Matthew Tkachuk speared him, and a full-on line brawl ensued as Witkowski went back out to finish the deal.

Here’s the entire 7-minute ordeal.

Witkowski was assessed a 10-minute game misconduct, as well as five minutes for fighting. Tack that onto his two minutes for cross checking in the first period, and he exited the game with 17 penalty minutes.

But following the game, officials assessed him with two additional 10-minute misconducts, giving him 37 total penalty minutes in one game. For comparison, he accumulated 39 combined penalty minutes in 34 games with Tampa Bay last season.

As the SB Nation site “Winging It in Mowton” points out, Witkowski may be looking at an automatic 10-game suspension since he attempted to reenter the ice after being sent off by an official.

This all begs the question: Was Calgary’s 8-2 loss or guys getting punched out the bigger beatdown for the Flames on Wednesday?