Bokondji Imama dropped the gloves with Carolina's Montgomery on Tuesday night, and the Panthers reporter in the building scored it for the Florida man.
Boko's first fight as a Panther, Jameson Olive posted from his seat. Gets the W.
That's what September looks like for a player who still has to earn a sweater somewhere.
Nobody drops the gloves in an exhibition game for entertainment. They do it because a coach is watching and cuts are coming.
He wore 14 in red. The Carolina player across from him had 72 on his back.
Florida beat Carolina 6-3 on Sunday, and Tuesday was the rematch on Carolina ice. The game was still running when the clip went out.
Bill Zito built a deep roster down there. Paul Maurice decides who actually fills the last spots on it.
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Bokondji Imama wins first fight as Florida Panthers roster battle heats up
Xhekaj went with Marshall Rifai in Toronto on Saturday and walked away with 7 penalty minutes.
He also picked up an assist that night on the penalty kill, then drew a slashing minor out of William Nylander.
Michael Pezzetta squared off with a former Montreal teammate at the Bell Centre and stopped the second the helmet came off.
Dallas and St. Louis combined for 34 penalty minutes on Saturday in a game that finished 2-1.
The incentives explain every bit of it. A depth forward gets about ten games to become memorable to a coaching staff.
Florida is a hard room to crack right now. Both Tkachuk brothers are inside it.
Rod Brind'Amour has his own cuts coming in Carolina before the schedule turns real.
Florida goes to Tampa Bay on Thursday. Carolina hosts Nashville the same night.
Neither of these clubs needed that fight. One player in it very much did.
That's the difference between a preseason game and a preseason audition, and only one side of the ice was auditioning there.
So does a decision on the ice buy a roster spot? Fighting your way onto a team works like auditioning with the one monologue you know cold. Not the full range, and you get remembered.
Olive handed him the win on the night. Whether Maurice hands him a jersey in October is the only scorecard that actually counts.
Should a preseason fight help a depth forward make an NHL roster?
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