Washington Capitals prospect Nathan Walker showed a ton of grit tonight, coming to the defense of one of his teammates, and fighting NHL veteran and renowned league dirt-bag Andrew Shaw.
The incident started when the Canadien’s Andrew Shaw was unintentionally “slew footed” by Capitals winger Jay Beagle in the waning minutes of the second period.
In retaliation, Shaw boarded Capitals’ defenseman Connor Hobbs, head first into the glass. The hit was obviously a cheap-shot. Shaw, playing in his first exhibition game with the Canadiens, garnered a five-minute major for boarding, a five-minute major for fighting, a 10-minute misconduct, and a 10-minute game misconduct.
Nathan Walker, witnessing the cheap shot by Shaw, stepped right in, and went after Shaw.
The entire sequence:
In the middle of the altercation, Shaw gestured to the crowd to cheer him on.
Noted Hockey Asshole pumps up crowd during middle of a fight https://t.co/mDBSfeQ2eD pic.twitter.com/AQcW5ywwk4
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) September 28, 2016
Walker has impressed in the early going of this game, and played well last night against the Carolina Hurricanes at Verizon Center. Walker’s speed and tenacity on the ice is something that has caught the attention of the Capitals coaching staff, and has him potentially looking at some playing time with the Capitals this season. Walker is the first Australian drafted by an NHL team.
By Jon Sorensen
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