What started as an intense, yet fairly common hockey brawl took on a whole other dimension after the goalies decided to get involved.
In the third period of a hotly contested matchup between the defending champion Florida Panthers and the San Jose Sharks, a fight broke out near the Sharks net. What made this fight unique, however, was that Sharks’ netminder Alex Nedeljkovic broke goalie-fighting protocol and left his crease to get involved.
This did not go unnoticed by Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who immediately bolted down the ice while frantically shaking off his gloves and making a beeline for his opposite number.
“And here comes Bobrovsky all the way down the ice!” NBC Sports California announcer Randy Hahn said. “And Bobrovsky’s got the gloves off, and he’s going after Nedeljkovic! We’ve got a goalie fight! It’s Nedeljkovic and Bobrovsky!”
Bobrovsky slammed into the unsuspecting Nedeljkovic, and the two immediately got into a fight, demonstrating why you so rarely see goalies fight. As the two sought to overcome the disadvantages of their bulky equipment, they mainly made vain attempts to land meaningful blows.
However, after a spirited, if uneventful, scrap, Bobrovsky overextended, and Nedeljkovic took him down.
“And Nedeljkovic ends up taking down Bobrovsky with the tackle!” Hahn continued. “I’m not sure a whole lot of punches landed, but you don’t see that every day!”
“No, you don’t!” his partner Drew Remenda added. “Wow!”
The Sharks beat the Panthers, 4-1.
