Boucher Downplays Avangard-Metallurg Brawl
Avangard rallied from 0-2 to beat Metallurg 3-2 in overtime, but the game was overshadowed by a third-period mass brawl that coach Guy Boucher addressed afterward.
Avangard trailed Metallurg 0-2 before scoring three unanswered goals and winning 3-2 in overtime, but the fixture in Omsk will be remembered for a mass brawl in the third period.
The trouble started after a hit by Metallurg defenceman Vladislav Provolnev on Avangard Forward Dmitri Rashevsky. Players from both sides piled in, and Metallurg forward Luke Johnson and Avangard defenceman Marcel Ibragimov were each given five minutes for fighting.
Guy Boucher, who has said before that he is no fan of staged fights on the ice, was asked afterwards whether this one had his approval.
Boucher's answer suggests the Avangard bench will keep responding to physical play in kind at home, whatever view the coach takes of fighting in principle.
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