Who doesn’t enjoy a good goalie showdown? This one took place outdoors, which made it even more exciting.
During the NHL Stadium Series matchup at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Sunday night, Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman squared off against Lightning keeper Andrei Vasilevskiy in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
The confrontation began with about 8 minutes and 59 seconds remaining in the second period. Following a whistle, Brandon Hagel got a bit rough, which led two Bruins players to push him down. Swayman joined in, trying to take things up a notch.
After the referee attempted to de-escalate the situation, Swayman caught sight of Vasilevskiy skating toward him from the other end of the ice, prompting their face-off.
The scuffle didn’t last long. Swayman didn’t even have his skates on, and Vasilevskiy quickly took control, delivering several punches to Swayman.
As noted by a statistics site, it was the first official matchup for both goalies in this kind of setting.
Post-fight, both players were seen laughing, smiling, and shaking hands, suggesting no hard feelings remained between them.
This marked the inaugural goaltender clash during an outdoor NHL game.
In terms of the game’s outcome, the Lightning remarkably recovered from a 5-1 deficit midway through the second period, ultimately winning the game 6-5 during the shootout.
The Lightning were down 5-2 when defenseman Darren Radish scored, narrowing the gap. Shortly after that, Nick Paul and Nikita Kucherov found the net, tying the game, while Jake Guentzel scored the decisive goal in the shootout.
Over 64,000 fans were present, witnessing one of the most surprising comebacks in outdoor NHL history, with the four-goal rally being the biggest for the Lightning in this series.
The goalie skirmish was just the second such encounter in the NHL in less than a month, following a battle between Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and Sharks goalie Alex Nedeljkovic on January 19.
