A.J. Greer fights the referee to chase Dylan Cozens

A.J. Greer tried to get through the referee to reach Dylan Cozens after a hit tonight, as the Ducks beat the Senators 6-3.

Cozens drew a five-minute major on the play, and Greer was irate, according to B/R Open Ice. The Anaheim winger wanted a piece of him right then.

That meant fighting off the official who stood between the two. It rarely ends well for the player doing it, and the anger was clearly bigger than the whistle.

Greer was already carrying a physical profile into this game. He came in with 28 PIM through 12 games this season, along with 4 goals.

This isn't the first time he has gone looking for a response. On October 24 in Philadelphia, he dropped the gloves with Hunter McDonald after the Flyers defenseman checked Sam Colangelo.

That was a fight over a teammate. Tonight it was personal, and the major on Cozens gave Greer's frustration an official stamp.

Cozens, for his part, doesn't live in the box. He had 8 PIM in 15 games before tonight, and he had just come off a strong showing in Saturday's 5-1 win at San Jose, with a goal, an assist and 5 shots on goal.

Ducks and Senators leave Anaheim with a bad taste

Going through a referee is a bad idea, full stop. Greer can be furious about the hit and still understand that a major already had Ottawa shorthanded for five minutes. That was the payoff he needed.

Joel Quenneville's club needed the win either way. Anaheim came in at 5-7-1, with a 6-7 loss to Buffalo on Thursday still fresh and a stretch of 3-6-1 over its last 10 games.

Ottawa, under Andrew Campbell, arrived at 9-5-1 and riding that road win in San Jose. Those numbers are from before tonight's game, which isn't in the records yet.

B/R Open Ice noted that Greer was irate after the hit and that Cozens was handed a five-minute major.

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Nothing in the picture tells us how the rest of the night played out around that sequence. What it does show is a team on the wrong end of the standings finding some edge.

The Ducks hit the road for Vancouver on Tuesday, while the Senators visit Buffalo on Wednesday. Whether any of this carries over into those games is the story to watch.

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