Demidov/Struble: Nick Cousins wanted to fight on his own terms

Dose
Crédit: Screenshot/NHL.com

On Saturday night at the Bell Centre, we suspected that Nick Cousins was going to have a fight on his hands. The reason was simple: the Habs were going to come after him for his dirty hit on Ivan Demidov in the pre-season.

And that’s exactly what happened: Jayden Struble went to give him his message.

That said, what’s interesting is that Cousins didn’t get into a fight until the third period. Usually, things are settled much more quickly during the game… but in this case, it took a while.

And today, in front of the media, Cousins explained why: he decided that on this night, he was going to wait until the third period so he could fight “on his terms”.

And this, even though Struble went to him several times during the match.

Cousins, who looks pretty banged up from that fight, admits that he didn’t do the right thing against Demidov on the preparatory calendar. However, he considers the matter closed… and doesn’t want to talk about it any more.

You get the feeling he’s learned his lesson… and it’s a good sign that he’ll be able to keep his cool against the Habs.

That said, we agree that it’s unusual to see Cousins willing to answer for his actions on his own terms. It’s pretty unusual to see that… especially since Struble obviously didn’t let him off the hook throughout the game.

I’m really looking forward to seeing how this all plays out between now and the end of the season. Because we know that games between the Habs and Senators often come with a lot of emotion in the air… and it’s in these contexts that players can have trouble controlling themselves.

Overtime

– Wow!

– Nothing less.

– Pavel Zacha: JiC doesn’t see him as the solution in Montreal.

– Mitch Marner’s replacement” left out in Toronto tonight.

– Too bad for the veteran.