Manson and Desharnais drop the mitts for heavyweight tilt

The Colorado Avalanche continued their Western Canadian road trip on Saturday night with a stop in Edmonton to take on the Oilers. As was expected, it was a fast-paced game featuring two of the league's speediest players - Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid.

With both teams battling for positioning in their respective divisions, there was tension in the air at Rogers Place and frustrations boiled over late in the second period as Colorado Avalanche defenceman Josh Manson and Edmonton Oilers defenceman Vincent Desharnais dropped the mitts.

Manson and Desharnais both landed a handful of solid shots during the nearly 30-second bout. The Avalanche blueliner took down Desharnais in a matter of second, but before the officials had a chance to step in, he got back up and the pair went at it for another 15 seconds. Eventually, the pair would become exhausted and were separated by the officials.



With the quality of hockey that was on display on Saturday night between these two teams, along with the intensity and physicality, hockey fans would be in for a treat if the Avalanche and Oilers met for a seven-game series during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with the earliest they could likely meet, given their current positions, being in the Western Conference Final.