It's not much of a surprise to see Matt Cooke's name in the fighting column after the reaction to his non-suspension last week. Chances were pretty good that someone was going to be ready to drop gloves with him. But Rob Niedermayer? Don't worry - this won't take long.
Tensions were raised when Niedermayer ole'd a potential hit from Cooke, leading him straight into the boards. Cooke didn't seem to appreciate his face full of glass and got right into Niedermayer's face with the ref trying to keep the two apart. Fast forward to the face-off, and Cooke and Niedermayer dropped the gloves, discarded the helmets, and went at it.
Or at least Cooke did. Niedermayer used his arm to get a bit of distance in, but Cooke quickly closed the gap. Once the punches began. Niedermayer dropped and that was that. I'm sure at least one person will inexplicably vote Niedermayer the winner of the fight, but this was Cooke, hands down. I said down!
Tampa Bay is up next. With 59 fights (20 more than the Pens), they're fourth in the NHL. 24 of those have come from Zenon Konopka, though he has yet to fight a Penguin this season. In fact, no fights have occurred thus far between the Lightning and the Penguins. Personally, I am always willing to see Steve Downie get his face punched, so here's hoping.