Blue Jackets center Lane Pederson truly poked the bear — and in an absolutely inadvisable manner at that — in the second period of Thursday’s head-to-head with the Bruins.
And he paid for it, dearly, with a visit from the Bruins’ Trent Frederic.
With his team protecting a one-goal lead at the Bruins, but with the Bruins pressuring the Jackets’ Michael Hutchinson, the 25-year-old Pederson blew back into the Columbus zone and leveled Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron with a crosscheck to the head.
Originally ruled a five-minute major, a video review reduced the penalty to two minutes (despite Bergeron bleeding from the ear) and kept Pederson in this game, where he was greeted by Frederic in his first faceoff after the incident.
The greeting was a wave, handshake, or nod for that matter. It was a one-punch that ended their fight as soon as it started.
