Steve Downie is not a player used to getting breaks. He essentially serves as the "enforcer" for the Tampa Bay Lightning, and he isn't afraid to throw his body in harms way at the hint of a scrum. I mean, just this past week, he returned to play after missing multiple weeks with a high ankle injury only to immediately find himself in the middle of a giant fight against the Rangers.
There was one problem with this fight, though: Downie technically wasn't on the ice when the fight started. Rangers forward Artem Anisimov scored a goal against the Lightning and "celebrated" by miming to shoot the Lighitnings' goalie with his stick, and a fight immediately broke out. Downie barged into the fight midway through, even though the NHL will hand out suspensions to any player that leaves the bench to join a fight in progress.
Downie claims he was just coming on the ice for a line change when the goal was scored -- believe that if you will -- so the NHL has announced today that he be fined $2,500 for his involvement in the incident instead of being suspended. This is good news for the Lightning, who need every player have right now with Martin St. Louis still down with an injury.
Video of the incident below the jump.
Talk about quite the immediate fight. It certainly didn't take long for the Lightning to react.
To join in the conversation about this incident, drop on by SB Nation's blog on the Lightning, Raw Charge.