Nick Cousins of the Florida Panthers, who has earned a reputation as a "rat" in the NHL for refusing to answer the bell after making dirty hits, dropped his gloves with Anthony Mantha of the Washington Capitals today. Mantha is a massive guy at six-foot-five, 236 lbs., and he made sure Cousins got himself some old-time justice, getting in a couple of punches to the face. Cousins tried a couple of times, but mostly tried to keep out of the way of Mantha's fists.
Cousins became a hot topic around the league at the beginning of the New Year after he was injured on a dirty hit from Jason Zucker of the Arizona Coyotes. Zucker was frustrated by an earlier dirty play by Cousins, who then refused to answer for his actions. Cousins was subsequently called out on national TV by Kevin Bieksa, who called him a rat.
