"It would not be unusual to see Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash and San Jose defenseman Dan Boyle chatting in the hallway after a game. The two have been friends for years.

But a nose-to-nose confrontation early in the third period on Thursday was out of the ordinary for both players.

"(Boyle) took a swing at me in the corner," Nash said. "Not a big deal, just a hockey play. But I asked him, 'What was that for?'

"He said I high-sticked him, but I don't think I did. It just started like that, with a couple words back and forth, and I asked him if he wanted to fight. I asked him three or four times."

The Blue Jackets were down 2-1 early in the third period when the yapping started.

Nash skated backward out of his zone as he challenged Boyle, and Boyle stayed right with him, inches apart."