Watch: Wild's Jake Middleton drops Jets' 6-foot-7 Logan Stanley like a redwood pine

The Minnesota Wild are playing the Winnipeg Jets in Manitoba on Tuesday night, in a rematch from January, when Ryan Hartman probably definitely high sticked Cole Perfetti in the face on purpose during a faceoff.

Fast forward more than a month later and nobody was really sure how tonight was going to go. But when the puck dropped on the first period… hockey happened. No fights, no retribution, just hockey. That was, until just over two minutes remained in that initial period.

That’s when Jake Middleton could have killed Jets’ centerman Mark Scheifele, when his skate got caught in the ice right in front of the boards, causing him to trip and start head-first toward serious danger, with Middleton’s momentum pushing him from behind.

Minnesota Wild’s Jake Middleton drops Jets’ Logan Stanley with righty haymaker

At first glance, the hit looks egregious. But when slowed down, you can tell that Middleton hesitates with his hit at the last moment, a slight pause that very well may have saved Scheifele from serious bodily harm.

But again, a lot was happening in a short period of time and Winnipeg ‘enforcer’ Logan Stanley skated over to (politely?) protect his guy. Middleton immediately obliged and we had a scuffle on our hands.