Brind'Amour: 'Morons' in media made too much of Chatfield takedown

Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour gave a fiery defense of blue-liner Jalen Chatfield ahead of his club's rematch with the Washington Capitals on Thursday.

The meeting will be the Metropolitan rivals' first since last Wednesday's controversial altercation between Chatfield and Capitals forward Connor McMichael. The two players fought in the third period, with their helmets coming off before Chatfield swung McMichael onto the ice.

Chatfield has faced heavy criticism for the sequence, which Brind'Amour doesn't believe is warranted.

"The media's the one that (made drama out of) it, and they're morons, typically," the bench boss said Monday when asked if he thinks any emotions will carry over into Thursday's game. "If you're going to say what happened at the end is anything other than (what) I've seen a thousand times before, you don't know what you're talking about.

"Go look at the game exactly before, the Boston-Detroit game. Two really good heavyweights going at it, watch how that fight ends. It's a takedown, sorry. Quit making (it) something that it isn't because that's not a fair characterization of our player, and that's what bothers me. Do your homework."

Red Wings bruiser Austin Watson and Bruins forward Jakub Lauko dropped the gloves during a March 29 contest. The scrap ended when the much bigger Watson flipped Lauko down onto the ice. Like McMichael, Lauko's helmet was off. The clash also featured a fight between Alex DeBrincat and Andrew Peeke.

Watson and Chatfield were assessed 10-minute misconducts for their fights, but the NHL didn't fine or suspend either player. For Chatfield, it was his first misconduct penalty of his career and just his second major. His first major penalty came in October 2022 for fighting San Jose Sharks forward Noah Gregor.

McMichael appeared to be OK and has played in the Capitals' two games since.

Chatfield has recorded six goals and 17 points in 75 contests this season while averaging a career-high 18:51 of ice time per game.

The Hurricanes square off against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday before heading to Washington.