It's clearly heating up. Both teams know what's on the line.

Anastasia O'Koivu chases down a maneuvering Vince Reaper and lays him out with a hit...


...And it's immediately answered by a trademark explosion from Nathan... uhh, Explosion. He catches Alex Winters with his head down.

There's a scrum after the whistle as both teams take exception to their players being run, but nothing further comes of it.