Alex DeBrincat snaps and drops the gloves with Andrew Peeke.

You don't often see this from Detroit Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat, and it is perhaps a sign of the kind of season the Red Wings are currently going through once again.

On Saturday night Debrincat and the Red Wings faced off against the Boston Bruins and it wouldn't be long before DeBrincat would make his presence in this game known. Historically DeBrincat has accomplished this by finding the back of the net, but on Saturday night the veteran National Hockey League forward had a message of a different kind to send.

There's no question that it was DeBrincat who sought out Bruins defenseman Andrew Peeke, hounding the much bigger man as he tried to skate up the ice and making it clear that Peeke wasn't going to get away without a fight. In spite of the fact that he is not known as a fighter, not to mention the fact that Peeke is over half a foot taller, DeBrincat seemed to have snapped and was demanding that Peeke drop the gloves.

Once the gloves came off DeBrincat would continue to surprise, showing a ferocity in this one that tells me he is very frustrated with the way things have gone for his team. In spite of being outsized DeBrincat stood in the pocket and threw punch after punch in Peeke's direction, never showing any signs of stopping until the Bruins defenseman eventually went crashing down to the ice.

You can judge the winner of this one for yourselves, but it's hard not to admire the courage that DeBrincat showed in challenging the much bigger man to throw down.