Frederic earns misconduct as tempers flare early between Oilers and Panthers.

There were signs that tonight's game between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers was going to be a rough one, and it didn't take long for the bad blood between these familiar foes to spill over.

Less than midway through the game's very first period we saw tempers flare between these two teams when a scrum in front of the Oilers net erupted after Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner froze the puck. A crowd formed and pushing and shoving began among the players, but Panthers forward A.J. Greer quickly began throwing punches which in turn caused things to devolve even further.

Oilers forward Trent Frederic quickly jumped in to challenge Greer to a fight but instead Greer would wrestle Frederic to the ground, forcing the National Hockey League's officials to step in and seperate the two men. It very quickly became clear that the officials had been instructed to make sure this one didn't get out of hand, with both Greer and Frederic each earning a ten minute misconduct.

Each player was also assessed a two minute minor for unsportsmanlike conduct which resulted in some 4 on 4 hockey between the two bitter rivals.

Here is a look at how it all went down:

You can hardly blame these teams for their dislike of one another after back to back meetings in the Stanley Cup Final, and I fully expect that the fireworks will continue throughout tonight's game.