New York Islanders forward Matt Martin is an extremely tough customer and he's been known to use his physicality to provide a spark for his team. That's exactly what Martin was hoping to accomplish on Tuesday night when he tried fighting Zdeno Chara, but things didn't go exactly as planned.
After the Islanders had an extremely flat first period that saw them fall into an early 2-0 deficit against the Bruins on Tuesday, Martin was hoping to light a fire under his teammates by dropping the gloves with Chara as the second period got underway. Unfortunately for Martin, that's a tall task ... literally.
At 6-foot-9, Chara is the tallest player in NHL history, and he knows how to put his insane reach to good use when he agrees to fight. The Bruins defenseman did a pretty great job of making sure it was at his advantage on Tuesday.
You have to give Martin credit; it takes a brave man to fight Chara, and he gave it a valiant effort. He even ate a massive haymaker from Chara and immediately popped back to his feet to go for more. Alas, he still wasn't able to overcome that monstrous reach. He did lay one heck of a beating on Chara's shoulder pads though.
To make matters worse for Martin, the fight didn't seem to do much in the way of providing a spark. The Islanders still struggled to get anything going in the second period.
Chara is typically a guy who chooses his spots when it comes to fighting, but this is his second decisive victory in that department over the past few weeks. Eventually, Chara will be too old to toy with younger tough guys in this fashion, but it appears turning 42 years old over the weekend didn't sap him of that ability.
