Trent Frederic has made his presence felt this season, perhaps never more so than on Wednesday night when he mixed it up with Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin on two separate occasions. Early in the third period, the two got tangled up in the corner and when they emerged, Frederic dropped the gloves. Ovechkin did not oblige.
"I thought it was kind of natural," said Frederic. "When I dropped them, he went into the boards weird and when he got up, he wasn't happy about it. The read I got was I don't know if you want to fight me or not, so that's the reason why [the gloves] came off a little quick, just protecting myself at the same time."
Later in the final frame, the two found themselves battling once again. After Frederic delivered a couple of light cross-checks, Ovechkin speared Frederic in the midsection, which led to the NHL doling out a $5,000 fine to the Caps' star, the maximum allowed under the CBA.
"I was just playing hard," said Frederic, who noted that he was feeling no ill effects from the stickwork. "He's a good player. Anytime you can put a check on him you're trying to do that. Just playing him hard…that's the respect I give him by playing him hard…he's a big body. He plays hard. He finishes checks. He gives it out just as much as he takes it."
Frederic has begun to establish himself as a bit of an agitator through his first full NHL campaign, as he's found a way to get under the skin of countless opponents, including the likes of New York Rangers forward Brendan Lemieux and New Jersey Devils blue liner P.K. Subban. The 2016 first-round pick has two fights on the year, one against Lemieux and the other against Washington heavyweight Tom Wilson on Feb. 1 in D.C.
"Really, it's all about winning…when you work hard and you win you have fun," Frederic said when asked what he's taken away from his season thus far. "Most of my time with the Bruins, my first year…we won or at least got points in just about every game I was up. All the time I've been here it's been good…you're in the NHL so every shift and every chance you get is a gift and you've got to prove your next shift."