Evgeny Svechnikov tries to pick a fight with Marc Andre Fleury

You have to wonder what the game plan here was for the San Jose Sharks forward Evgeny Svechnikov.

On Saturday night, the 26 year old Sharks forward appeared to let his emotions get the best of him when he took an entirely unnecessary penalty while trying to get under the skin of Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.

The bizarre situation unfolded in front of the Wild net, seemingly unprompted, and resulted in Svechnikov taking a couple of whacks and pokes at the Wild goalie with his stick. This was enough to draw the ire of veteran Marcus Foligno who quickly came to the defense of his goalie, but even the intervention from Foligno wasn't enough to make Svechnikov stop his antics.

The Sharks forward would continue to taunt Fleury after Foligno stepped in and even delivered a pretty clear slash to Fleury which resulted in the officials finally stepping in, and a 2 minute minor penalty for Svechnikov.

Here's a second angle:

It very much reminded me of the situation we saw in the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs between Sean Avery and Martin Brodeur, a situation that resulted in what is now known as the "Avery Rule" which makes it illegal for a player to waive their stick in the face of an opposing netminder.

Unfortunately for Svechnikov his tactics didn't prove successful, and if anything it seemed to fuel the opposition. Following the game Foligno would admit that Svechnikov's antics woke up the members of the Wild, and he even went so far as to call it a "turning point in the game."