Yanni Gourde slaps Brady Tkachuk across the face.

There was no love lost between Atlantic Division rivals the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday when the two teams faced off in one of the National Hockey League's early games on the schedule.

We saw several physical altercations between the two teams throughout the game, but perhaps none highlighted the animosity between these two teams better than one particular interaction between Senators captain Brady Tkachuk and Lightning forward Yanni Gourde.

Following what was a pretty good scoring chance for Gourde, and the subsequent stoppage in play, Tkachuk would treat the Lightning forward to what I can only describe as a little bullying. Tkachuk would skate up behind Gourde and even appeared to deliver a shot with his stick to the back of Gourde's neck, which in turn infuriated the Lightning forward.

That was when Gourde spun around and delivered the first open hand slap I can recall seeing in the NHL in recent memory. Gourde, who never took his gloves off, could be seen opening up his glove as he delivered the stiff smack to the side of Tkachuk's face, causing Tkachuk's head to spin to the side in the process.

Here's a look at the slap in real speed:

And once again in slow motion:

The Lightning did some serious damage to the Senators playoff hopes by picking up a regulation win over them on Saturday, but I sure would love to see a full series between these two rivals should they meet in the playoff this year.