Jeffrey Viel and Dillon Boucher trade punches in a wild fight with a bloody finish

Gino Hard just flagged a fight between Dillon Boucher and Jeffrey Viel as the Blackhawks visit the Lightning tonight.

Chicago walked into Amalie Arena in rough shape. The Blackhawks are 31st in the NHL at 4-11-1, they've lost four straight, and the road has been brutal at 0-6-1.

Gino Hard noted that the 29-year-old Boucher got his first NHL fight and was cut open in the process.

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Viel is not a random dance partner. The Lightning winger has 18 penalty minutes in 11 games this season, and he's piled up 250 over his NHL career.

Boucher, listed at 6 feet and 220 pounds, picked a heavyweight for his first one. He's also been in the spotlight all week. He logged 8:10 in Wednesday's 5-3 loss at Florida, where Boucher's words for Brady Tkachuk made noise.

A fourth-line winger with no points and a handful of minutes doesn't usually get this much attention. Fighting is how a player like that earns a spot in a locker room, and Boucher just did it against a guy who does it for a living.

Why the Blackhawks needed this spark

Jeff Blashill's team has been outscored by 27 goals this season, the worst number among the teams on tonight's card. Nobody is confusing a scrap with a solution for that.

But the Blackhawks are 3-6-1 over their last 10 and short on identity. A rookie willing to bleed for his teammates on the road, against a Lightning team that is 7-0-0 at home, is at least a start.

Tampa Bay comes in at 9-3-2 and sits eighth in the league. Jon Cooper's group has little reason to care about a fight on its own ice, and Viel did his job.

The game was still in the third period as this went up, so the final result isn't in. The Blackhawks head to Carolina on Saturday, and the Lightning go to Minnesota the same day. Whether Boucher plays through the cut and keeps his spot will be the first thing to watch.

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