Montreal Canadiens rookie Michael Pezzetta's decision to challenge Ryan Reaves to a fight appeared to backfire in more ways than one in Tuesday's 3-2 loss to the New York Rangers.

Pezzetta went after Reaves in the second period following a hit by the Rangers forward with the game tied 1-1. The rookie forward was clearly on the losing end as Reaves landed several shots while Pezzetta struggled to stay on his feet.

The Rangers scored the go-ahead goal in the game just over 30 seconds later, but head coach Dominque Ducharme argued postgame the two incidents were unrelated.

"He wanted to bring energy to the team," Ducharme said of Pezzetta's decision to fight, per NHL.com. "It's not why they scored the second goal. We were on the rush. We had a shot. It's a good rebound that landed in a good spot for them. They were quick jumping on the offence. They made a good play back post."

Reaves, who has topped 100 penalty minutes in a season four times in his career, said he was caught off guard by Pezzetta before dropping the gloves for the first time this season.

"I was very confused on what was going on," Reaves said. "That's the second time in my [NHL] career that I was confused on whether it was a guy from the minors, an absolute killer trying to make a name or something. But both ended the same way."

The 34-year-old stopped shy of taking any credit for the ensuing goal, which the Rangers would build on in the third period to make it 3-1, but said he enjoyed watching from the penalty box.

"The crowd was into it," Reaves said. "The boys got one for me there, which was good. It's always nice to be in the box after a fight and the boys go get one."