Wednesday's game between the Boston Bruins and Avalanche quickly turned chippy when Taylor Hall laid a hit on Nathan MacKinnon that bloodied the Colorado star after his stick hit him in the face.
MacKinnon didn't return, and Hall turned down fights while becoming the victim of some cross-checks, but the Avalanche got the last laugh in their 4-3 overtime win, which extended Colorado's home win streak to 17 games.
Gabriel Landeskog didn't think the hit was dirty and said him going after Hall was more about sending a message after watching his teammate go down. Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar, meanwhile, took issue with the hit itself, though he believed the officials made the right call in reducing the five-minute major to a minor.
"I didn't like it. Blindside. A little late, a little high," Bednar told reporters after the game, per the Avalanche. "The way he catches him, Nate's stick goes up so I believe they probably made the right call. But I don't love the hit. Whether it's really solid or just a glancing blow, it's the kind of hit the league is trying to get rid of."
It's unclear how much time, if any, MacKinnon will miss, but it certainly will be interesting to see how the Bruins and Avs respond to one another when they meet at TD Garden on Feb. 21.
