Islanders enforcer Matt Martin responds to Oilers’ tough play
Islanders enforcer Matt Martin responds to Oilers’ tough play
Updated
By Arthur Staple arthur.staple@newsday.com
Matt Martin usually is willing to drop his gloves and rarely crosses the etiquette line that exists among enforcers. He delivered a handful of extra punches to the back of Oilers defenseman Eric Gryba’s head in a third-period bout Sunday, sending a not-so-subtle message that the rules must be followed, even in an 8-1 rout.
A period earlier, 6-3 Zack Kassian went looking for a fight and decided that Thomas Hickey, a 5-10 non-fighting defenseman, would be a good target. Brian Strait, another non-fighter, stepped in and took some lumps from Kassian, who earned 19 penalty minutes.
Martin also was upset that Gryba had a cross-check clash with John Tavares earlier in the game.
“I just felt like we needed to respond to that,” Martin said. “It’s an emotional game, obviously, and [Kassian] is trying to stir something up for his team. At that point in the game, I didn’t think I was at a big risk of changing the momentum.”
Martin was impressed that Strait jumped in to fight Kassian.
“Straiter’s a hell of a guy in this room and he stepped up for Hicks there,” Martin said. “That shows you something.”
