Edmonton Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins achieved a milestone during Saturday's game against the Vancouver Canucks: his first NHL fight.
Nugent-Hopkins took exception to a leveling hit delivered by Canucks defenseman Dan Hamhuis and stepped up by dropping the gloves and letting his fists fly.
Nugent-Hopkins engaged in fisticuffs only once before, a tilt with Lukas Sutter in 2011 as a member of the WHL's Red Deer Rebels, according to hockeyfights.com.
The decision probably went Hamhuis's way, but it was a decent showing for a player of Nugent-Hopkins' size and ilk. At the same time, it was the kind of grit and heart than endears players to fans, coaches and management.