Christiansen was holding on for dear life. Not every fight needs to be to “spark” anything. It was a clear message/response that CBJ players aren’t to be taken advantage of. Not only that, but, we DID get that “spark”, even if it wasn’t needed.
Not sure why you keep looking at it from moreso the Flames POV than the CBJ. Yeah, watching one of your players get their ass kicked because you have nobody else willing to stand up to or able match another opposing player’s intensity, is not going to “spark” or “wake your team up” very much. I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make, other than the timing of the original hit/boarding.
Just watched the fight again, holding on for dear life is a little much. Pospisil hit his helmet a couple times, but really wasn't much.
It's fine having a guy that can stand up for players, but really, do guys on the other team really back down after stuff like that? Lomberg didn't. He got his ass kicked, but he still went after Olivier trying to spark his guys.
I'm not looking at it from Calgary's view at all. I have seen plenty of games over the years turn on a stupid penalty when a team was in control. The Jackets were controlling all aspects of the game, why even give Calgary incentive to play better. They were so flat during the early part of the game. Had they given him a major on that boarding call, a 5 minute PP could have changed the game and flipped momentum.
Actually, I thought it was dumb going after Christainsen for a clean hit. I could see if it was cheap, but it wasn't. And going at Jake wasn't going to change his game any. If he got another chance to lay someone out, he wasn't going to stop and think, "gee, if I hit this guy I might have someone try to fight me again", he is just going to lay the guy out.