When Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron took a late check behind the play a week ago against the Montreal Canadiens, Brad Marchand immediately stood up for his teammate.
A similar situation played out in Thursday's thrilling 2-1 overtime win for the Bruins over the Columbus Blue Jackets when Lane Pederson cross-checked Bergeron up high midway through the second period.
This time, Trent Frederic put it on himself to respond, especially after Pederson's penalty was changed from a five-minute major to just a minor infraction.
"I think it probably should have been a five (minute major) and when it's not, that's what's so great about hockey, you get to put it in your own hands," Frederic told reporters as seen on NESN's postgame coverage.
Less than a minute after Pederson came out of the penalty box, Frederic sought him out and dropped the gloves. The fight didn't last long at all, with Frederic dropping Pederson to the ice with one healthy right-handed punch.
Despite the resounding win in the bout, Frederic wasn't taking a victory lap.
"It's just part of the game," Frederic said. "Sometimes you get hit like that and sometimes you don't. It's just one of those deals."
That was one of three fights the Bruins got into on the night with Jakub Lauko and Brandon Carlo also getting into fisticuffs. The fighting from Boston's supporting cast certainly got the approval of head coach Jim Montgomery and helped give a spark to the Bruins as they grind their way through the last remaining games of the regular season.
"I think guys get a lot of fuel off of that, especially toward the end of the year when we're playing a lot of games," Frederic said. "I think it helps."
