My favorite punk Sean Avery, he makes for good theater. Whether you like Sean Avery or not, you have to admit it was smart hockey. I mean seriously, you took an offensive threat like Kovalchuk off the ice in essence ending his day early. I think Avery won that exchange.
NEW YORK -- The poke of the stick into a part of your body that might not respond well to that sort of thing. The hit slightly after the whistle designed to get your attention. The well-timed insult that gets under your skin and causes you to lose your cool.
Everyone knows the game of Rangers irritator Sean Avery -- but that doesn't make it any less irksome if you're in the wrong state of mind.
Just ask Devils star Ilya Kovalchuk.
With his team trailing the Rangers 3-1 and only 2:16 left in the third period, Kovalchuk found himself a couple of feet from Avery during a whistle. A tap of the stick and a few well-chosen words later, Kovalchuk was wailing away on Avery as officials tried to separate the pair.
They each received four minutes for roughing, effectively ending their nights with very little time left in the game. It left the Devils without their biggest offensive threat with the game on the line, and the Rangers without, well, a guy who gets paid to do just what he did to Kovalchuk.
"We obviously know the history with Avery and I think it's a smart play on his part to take Kovy out with two minutes left in the game," Devils forward Patrik Elias said after his team's 3-1 loss. "That's an advantage for them, obviously."
"He's always talks. It's part of the game," Kovalchuk said. "That time I should stay away from that, but we have a lot of great players who can do some damage in front. I heard it's a big rivalry, and now I know it."
Lesson learned.
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