Lightning 6, Bruins 5

 

Goalie fight! Bruin's goalie Jeremy Swayman and the Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy went at it on the center line during the second period last night on national t.v.

Swayman understandably had taken issue with a Lightning player poking a puck between his pads after a power-play shot. After the whistle blew, Swayman went after the player, tackling him on the ice and throwing punches. Charlie McAvoy (BU, 2016) and Tanner Jeannot broke it up, but then Vasilevskiy left the crease and skated down the ice into the melee. 

Swayman stripped off his helmet and gloves and met Vasilevskiy at the center line. They wrestled each other and Vasilevskiy forced Swayman to the ice before referees stepped in and broke it up. Vaseline tapped Swayman on the head as they were pulled apart and players on both benches stood and tapped their sticks on the boards out of respect for their teammates. Each goalie was given a five-minute penalty for fighting.

The Bruins had a 5-2 lead at the time of the fight, which you can say the Lightning won because they came back with three unanswered goals - two in the second and one in the third - to force OT. No one scored, allegedly, in the OT, although an apparent Pastrnak goal 22 seconds into OT was nullified due to a delayed slashing whistle against Pasta. The Lightning hit a goal in the second attempt during the shootout, Pasta missed his attempt, and that was that - Tampa Bay took a 6-5 win.

This was the first-ever outdoor NHL game in Florida - isn't technology amazing? - but big deal. 

Boston (32-20-4) is fourth in the Atlantic and fifth in the East. Their 68 points has them comfortably in the lead in the Wild Card race by seven points ahead of the first non-qualifying contender, Columbus. 

The Bruins will stay in the Sunshine State and play the Panthers on Wednesday.