Tyrel Bauer eviscerates Keegan Kolesar during frightening KO fight

The trouble started at 12:06, when Bauer leveled J.T. Compher along the boards with a thunderous check.

Kolesar, acquired from Vegas in July to add toughness to Detroit's lineup, went straight after the Jets defenseman to answer for his teammate.

The exchange did not last long. Bauer connected with two clean lefts, and Kolesar went down hard before the linesmen stepped in.

The Red Wings forward was not on the bench right away, but he returned for the second period, according to Gino Hard, which is a welcome sign for Detroit.

It was a tough result for a player who piled up five fighting majors last season. Detroit brought him in to fix a glaring weakness, as the Red Wings finished 29th in the league in both hits and fighting majors a year ago.

For Bauer, it was the second fight in as many NHL games. The 24-year-old, a sixth-round pick in 2020 who captained the Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL, bloodied Boston's Mark Kastelic in his debut on Friday night.

At 6-foot-3 and well over 200 pounds, he has wasted no time showing he is comfortable playing a physical game.

Bauer said afterward that his job goes well beyond throwing punches. Winnipeg also converted twice on the power play in the game.

For the Red Wings, the loss in the fight stings, but the intent behind it is exactly what the front office wanted. Kolesar saw a teammate get rocked and responded immediately, which is the standard Detroit hoped he would set when it traded a 2029 third-round pick and a 2027 seventh-round pick to Vegas for him.

Bauer, meanwhile, owns two fights and a rapidly growing reputation after just two NHL games, and opponents are officially on notice.

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