Video: Oilers, Rangers brawl during MSG matinee
The Edmonton Oilers held a 2-1 lead in the second period against the New York Rangers after scoring twice in 28 seconds during their afternoon matinee at Madison Square Garden.
Then things got out of control, and not just on thescoresheet.
New York would pile seven goals on Nikolai Khabibulin(notes) over the final two periods en route to an 8-2 victory. But over shadowing Marian Gaborik's(notes) hat trick will be the third period brawl that made "Kids Day" at MSG all the more entertaining:
As you can see from the penalty summary, it took a while to sort things out before play resumed:
Regarding whether or not Peckham left the bench to engage in the brawl, according to Rule 70, "Substitutions made prior to the altercation shall be permitted provided the players so substituting do not enter the altercation." Seeing as how the brawl appeared over and both teams had more than five skaters on the ice at the time, Peckham should be safe from any punishment.
After the game, Peckham and Colin Fraser(notes) were not happy with how quick on the draw Avery was with Smid.
"I just watched my teammate ask a guy to fight," Peckham said. "Avery said 'No, no next shift.' And as soon as Smider turned around, he sucker punched him. He skated by our bench laughing. I definitely made a mistake and went a little wonky, but we're family and sometimes you have to make a stand for yourself."
"It was a sucker punch," Fraser said. "I think he had his chance, fair and square, 1-on-1 with (Smid). I could hear (Smid) with my own ears. 'Let's go, let's go.' Hey, if you don't want to fight, that's fine. You don't have to fight. But you can't punch the guy after you've already said no."
Avery wasn't around to comment after the game.
