Zack MacEwen saw a questionable check on Teddy Blueger and answered the only way he knows, dropping the gloves for the Maple Leafs.
It turned into a heavyweight tilt between the two, exactly the kind of response a team needs after a play like that.
This is the job description. MacEwen has no points in four games, so his value shows up in moments like this one.
And he's right to do it. A group that's been pushed around in its own end needs somebody willing to make opponents think twice before taking liberties.
Blueger has been a quiet piece of the bottom six, with no points through 10 games.
A fourth-liner standing up for a teammate is like the substitute teacher who finally gets the class to settle down. Nobody notices him until the day he does.
The timing matters for MacEwen too. Vinni Lettieri was just called up, and Toronto's bottom six has been under the microscope.
A fourth-liner without a point finds another way to matter
Brandon Duhaime, Benoit-Olivier Groulx and MacEwen have all struggled to produce, and Jim Hiller needs his depth to bring something.
A scrap won't show up on the scoresheet the way a goal does. It still tells a coach who's willing to go to bat for his teammates.
The Leafs are 4-4-2 and just snapped a three-game skid with Monday's 3-1 win over San Jose.
Auston Matthews led the way in that one with a goal and two assists, while Gavin McKenna and Nick Paul also scored.
Defense is still the bigger worry. Toronto has allowed 33 goals, and John Chayka is shopping for a top-four defenseman.
On an $875,000 cap hit, the 30-year-old is about as cheap as an insurance policy gets.
Does a tilt like this keep him in the lineup? It might, especially for a team that's needed more pushback than it has shown.
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The next time someone takes a liberty with a Leafs player, they'll know who's coming. Whether that's enough to keep his spot once Lettieri gets a look is another story.
Should Zack MacEwen keep his spot in the Leafs lineup over Vinni Lettieri?
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