Alex Ovechkin can deliver some punishing hits, but the star player doesn't fight very often. According to hockeyfights.com's excellent database, prior to Tuesday night he had only been in three fights in his career - that's three fewer than Sidney Crosby, by the way - and his last came in 2010, against Brandon Dubinsky. Kris Versteeg isn't exactly a goon either - six career NHL fights for him - but these two infrequent fighters threw down in the first period Tuesday night.

This tussle wasn't enough to warrant an official fighting major for either player, with just a couple of roughing penalties handed out each way, but it was still exciting to watch. Maybe Ovechkin is planning a career transition from offensive superstar to enforcer?

These two didn't just decide to fight for no particular reason, of course. Versteeg started the "fight" in retaliation for a big hit Ovechkin gave him on a previous shift:

(videos via HockeyVideoHD)