Scott Mayfield's a big boy in NHL circles at 6 feet 4, 215 pounds. Bit of a bully, too, at least when lined up against the Penguins for nearly a decade now.
And even though he's hardly one to drop the gloves on a whim -- or for any reason at all, actually, given that this fight was his second as a professional, his first in the NHL at age 24 -- he sure doesn't sound as if he's set to concede so much as an ounce to anyone. Especially if, as happened on this occasion, his fight's soon followed by rapid-fire goals, in his case from Avery Hayes and Rickard Rakell, all in the same four minutes early in the third period.
Oh, and I'll mention that the Penguins' earlier icebreaking goal came from Soderblom himself:
"Yeah, I felt good to get ahead there, to score the goals, of course, and yeah, the fight was nice to get that one," Soderblom said. "It was a little bit of a battle in the corner and then it went faster, and the gloves were off. But yeah, overall I think we responded really well in the third."
The kid's now got two goals and two assists in 12 games since the Penguins acquired him, topping by a point his 39-game output with the Red Wings of two goals and an assists.
He'll face his former employer Tuesday night for the first time, by the way.
Maybe by then he'll be over falling an assist shy of the Gordie Howe hat trick?
"That would be nice, but yeah, I have to wait. Maybe I'll have another chance, another time."
All I have to add, and I shared it with Soderblom, as well: If he hadn't scored, if he hadn't fought, he still would've had a superlative game, if only because of how effectively he forechecked and, after that, how efficiently he shielded everyone else off the puck.
As Dan Muse almost joked after this, "I'm not sure how anyone's supposed to get the puck off him."
THE ASYLUM
Soderblom slugs, scores ... more?
Scott Mayfield's a big boy in NHL circles at 6 feet 4, 215 pounds. Bit of a bully, too, at least when lined up against the Penguins for nearly a decade now.
Elmer Soderblom's a bigger boy.
Like, way bigger:
And even though he's hardly one to drop the gloves on a whim -- or for any reason at all, actually, given that this fight was his second as a professional, his first in the NHL at age 24 -- he sure doesn't sound as if he's set to concede so much as an ounce to anyone. Especially if, as happened on this occasion, his fight's soon followed by rapid-fire goals, in his case from Avery Hayes and Rickard Rakell, all in the same four minutes early in the third period.
Oh, and I'll mention that the Penguins' earlier icebreaking goal came from Soderblom himself:
"Yeah, I felt good to get ahead there, to score the goals, of course, and yeah, the fight was nice to get that one," Soderblom said. "It was a little bit of a battle in the corner and then it went faster, and the gloves were off. But yeah, overall I think we responded really well in the third."
The kid's now got two goals and two assists in 12 games since the Penguins acquired him, topping by a point his 39-game output with the Red Wings of two goals and an assists.
He'll face his former employer Tuesday night for the first time, by the way.
Maybe by then he'll be over falling an assist shy of the Gordie Howe hat trick?
"That would be nice, but yeah, I have to wait. Maybe I'll have another chance, another time."
All I have to add, and I shared it with Soderblom, as well: If he hadn't scored, if he hadn't fought, he still would've had a superlative game, if only because of how effectively he forechecked and, after that, how efficiently he shielded everyone else off the puck.
As Dan Muse almost joked after this, "I'm not sure how anyone's supposed to get the puck off him."
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