Macklin Celebrini cross-checked Aleksander Barkov along the boards Thursday night, and the San Jose Sharks' opener against Florida turned into a grudge match.
The no context san jose sharks account posted the clip from the NBC Sports California feed.
In it, Celebrini, in teal No. 71, gets both gloves and his stick into Barkov, in white No. 16, bending him over along the boards while an official watches from behind.
Cheap is cheap, no matter the sweater. If the Tkachuk takedown looked bad, this one doesn't get a pass just because it came from the home team.
Payback? The clip doesn't say when this happened relative to the Tkachuk sequence, but nobody watching this game would be shocked by it.
It's two neighbors trading snowblower complaints over the fence all winter. Nobody's moving, and the snow keeps coming.
Barkov is 31, carries a $10,000,000 cap hit and came into the night without a point through one game.
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Macklin Celebrini's cross-check on Aleksander Barkov adds fuel to heated clash
This same game also featured Brady Tkachuk taking down Celebrini and Jacob Trouba stepping in, with a couple of majors handed out.
Florida's lineup already brings plenty of edge, with Brady Tkachuk's 821 career penalty minutes now in the mix.
Barkov is also the highest-paid player on Florida's roster, which makes him exactly the kind of name that gets a bench fired up.
Paul Maurice's Panthers came in at 1-0-0 after an overtime win in Carolina on Tuesday.
Gustav Forsling scored the winner in that one, and Jacob Markstrom finished with a shutout.
Ryan Warsofsky's Sharks are playing their home opener after a 2-1-1 preseason, and this is the welcome their fans got.
Darnell Nurse carries a $9,250,000 cap hit on that San Jose blue line.
The Panthers' California swing continues in Anaheim on Sunday and Los Angeles next Tuesday. The Kings visit San Jose first, on Saturday.
After that, the Sharks head out on the road to Dallas and St. Louis.
February 21 in Florida is the next meeting. After tonight, nobody in either room needs a reminder to circle it.
Was Macklin Celebrini's cross-check on Aleksander Barkov just as cheap as Brady Tkachuk's takedown?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Brady Tkachuk cheap-shots Macklin Celebrini then gets rocked by Jacob Trouba
