Fraser steps up for Kadri
Kadri’s often-useful tendency to be a pest was also on display on Thursday, as big Florida defenceman Alex Petrovic took exception to their battle and threw a punch at him in front of the net with the game already out of hand late in the second period.
That spurred a bit of a brawl – which included goalie James Reimer coming out of his net to the blueline and contemplating joining in when it appeared Jacob Markstrom was involved – that ultimately ended with Leafs defenceman Mark Fraser getting tossed out of the game for jumping into the fray to defend Kadri.
“A couple whacks were exchanged and then he kind of just threw his gloves off and I didn’t even realize we were going to go at it until he punched me square in the face,” Kadri said. “I got a fist in the face. I think that’s why Fraz did what he had to do. I gave [Petrovic] a couple in there [down on the ice] as well and I don’t feel too bad about it.”
“Nazzy, that’s part of his game,” Carlyle said. “He’s got to have a personality out there and sometimes he rubs people the wrong way. But he’s got to defend his honour.”
Kadri also thanked Fraser for helping in that department.
“I love it,” he said. “That’s the character of our team: Everyone sticks up for each other. Any single person on our team would do it for him, too, so I think that’s the big difference with this Maple Leaf group this year.”
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