Seasoned Russian hockey star Aleksandr Ovechkin sent a message with his brutal knockout of his rising compatriot Andrei Svechnikov in a National Hockey League (NHL) playoff game on April 16.
Now Svechnikov's older brother, fellow NHL player Yevgeny, has a message for Ovechkin: I'm coming for you.
The elder Svechnikov, who was born on Halloween, took to Instagram after the donnybrook that left his 19-year-old brother unable to make his way to the dressing room on his own.
Alluding to the famous horror-movie killer Freddy Krueger from the A Nightmare On Elm Street film series, he left this warning on Instagram:
"One, two Freddy's coming for you!" he wrote in a nod to what has become the character's theme song, adapted from the children's nursery rhyme One, Two, Buckle My Shoe.
Svechnikov, a winger with the Detroit Red Wings who missed the entire 2018-19 season with a knee injury, added a picture of himself dressed up as Krueger to underscore his point.
The fight between a blossoming but unseasoned rookie and a veteran has sparked debate both in North America and back home in the combatants' native Russia.
Neither is known as a fighter.
Ovechkin, who has scored the most goals out of any NHL player in eight of the last 13 seasons, last fought in 2010. Svechnikov had never dropped his gloves in the league.
But Valery Zelepukin, who played almost 600 games in the NHL before returning to Russia, says both understood the situation and would likely be closer in the long run.
"In hockey, a good fight only brings people together. The guys are real professionals. I am sure that they will talk with each other after this episode and will not keep up the evil, they will even more likely treat each other with even greater respect," he was quoted by TASS as saying.
Meanwhile, the NHL is reportedly looking into the elder Svechnikov's apparent threat, which Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told TVA Sports in Canada was "stupid."
"There will be an appropriate response," Daly added.
Ovechkin's Washington Capitals lead the playoff series with the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1, with Game 4 scheduled for later on April 18.
Svechnikov is listed by the Hurricanes as being in the league's concussion protocol. His status is "day-to-day," but team officials have said he is unlikely to play in the game.
