Nashville defenseman Ryan Ellis's blindside hit on Tampa Bay right winger J.T. Brown Monday night touched off a series of scrums that resulted in more penalty minutes than the two sides combined for in the first two periods.
About midway through the third frame, Ellis laid the wood on an unaware Brown as he scrambled for a loose puck, and Brown immediately reacted with a flurry of haymakers. Ellis received a five-minute major and Brown in turn got a 10-minute misconduct penalty.
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Also involved in the fisticuffs were Predators winger Viktor Arvidsson, who was penalized for his crosscheck on Vladislav Namestnikov, Tampa's Jason Garrison, who actually avoided getting penalized for his retaliatory hit to Arvidsson's head with his stick.
Nashville won the game 3-1, and the two teams get to go at it again Jan. 5 in Tampa.
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