Nashville Predators leading scorer Filip Forsberg delivered a knockout punch to the Detroit Red Wings by scoring a late third-period goal in a 1-0 victory.

That was more his style than the second period occurrence when he found himself trading haymakers with Detroit defenseman Moritz Seider. Neither player woke up that day believing they were going to drop their gloves. Seider had never had an NHL fight, and Forsberg had two fights in an NHL career that spanned 687 games over 12 seasons. His fight card included  Jake Virtanen in 2016 and Bryden Schenn in 2020. He clearly wasn’t looking for another bout.

“Sometimes you gotta do that, too,” Forsberg said. “I pick my times for sure.”

The fight was born out of an evenly played, highly competitive game during which both teams were trying to find an edge.

Neither player would have been their team’s first choice to fight.  Forsberg is on his way to his second 40+ goal season in three years. The Predators don’t want him sitting in the penalty box for five minutes. Since rough-and-tumble Seider arrived in the NHL, it was presumed he could fight. He plays a physical game. But he leads the Red Wings in minutes most nights, and plays in all situations.  Undoubtedly, he understands he has to stay on the ice.

Seider Clear Winner

This is how Forsberg explained the fight:

“It was nothing, really. Just battling with the guy for a couple of times. He’s a good player, obviously, so we’re playing hard against each other. Heat of the moment thing.”

Hockeyfights.com allows its readers and viewers to declare a winner for NHL fights. By 11:15 a.m. Sunday, 37 votes were cast. Thirty-four had Seider winning the fight. One person went with Forsberg as the winner and one voter called it a draw.

Seider is 6-foot-3, 210 pounds and Forsberg is 6-foot-1, 205 pounds.

When Forsberg was asked after the game to score his fight, he said:  “I started out decently, then he took over. He’s a big boy. I should try to pick somebody in my weight class.”

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The Detroit Red Wings may not have won the battle with the Nashville Predators on Saturday. However, Detroit defenseman Moritz Seider definitely got the decision in a star-studded fight with Predators leading scorer Filip Forsberg.

The two combatants clashed along the boards in the Detroit zone during the second period of Nashville’s 1-0 victory. With tempers flaring, the gloves and helmets were coming off as both players were making the decision to throw down.

“I just funneled the puck a little bit and got cross-checked and then I don’t know,” Seider told Bally Sports Detroit. “We got the best of our emotions and I think it was pretty enjoyable for everyone.”

According to HockeyFights.com, it was the first bout of Seider’s NHL career. Forsberg was engaging in his third NHL fight.

A Spirited Tilt

“Good fight, too,” Detroit goalie Alex Lyon said. “Obviously those are two guys who don’t see doing that very often. When they do it . . . and it was intense, too. A lot of respect for Mo for grinding like that.

“It was passionate. You could feel it. You love to see it.”

As Lyon notes, certainly, they wouldn’t be the first candidates to be fighting. Forsberg, whose third-period goal ultimately decided the outcome of the game, is Nashville’s most productive goal scorer and top point getter. His goal was his 39th and would account for his 78th point of the campaign.

Seider is Detroit’s most efficient minute muncher. He’s playing on average 22:08 per night. That’s tops on the team.

Seider’s five-minute enforced absence due to his fighting major put the Red Wings in a bit of a bind. They were down to four defenseman during that span of time. Olli Maatta was already in the Detroit dressing room. He was undergoing repairs after being hit in the face with a puck.

Red Wings, Predators Offer Unusual Combatants

The Seider-Forsberg scrap was eerily similar to another bout featuring unusual combatants when the two clubs met in Detroit on Dec. 29. That night, Detroit sniper Alex DeBrincat, currently third on the club with 23 goals, squared off against Nashville defenseman Roman Josi, the 2021-22 Norris Trophy winner.

The fight would enable DeBrincat to complete a Gordie Howe hat-trick – a goal, an assist and a fight in the same game. That night, the Red Wings won 5-4 in overtime over the Predators.

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