The San Jose Sharks defeated the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Monday, 4-1. However, the final score is an afterthought from a game that featured both teams’ goaltenders dropping the gloves and fighting.
Yeah, that’s right. There is a national championship college football game in Miami, but there was also a goalie fight approximately 30 miles away at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida.
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The Sharks’ Alex Nedeljkovic and Panthers’ Sergei Bobrovsky threw hands at the 14:00 mark of the third period. The confrontation was the culmination of a melee that began when Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues hit Sharks defenseman Vincent Desharnais hard behind the net.
Desharnais was playing in his first game since November, missing time due to an elbow injury that required surgery. So his teammates may have been particularly uneasy about him taking a big hit. Especially one that appeared to come after the play was whistled dead. Demonstrating that heightened concern, Nedeljkovic quickly responded by shoving Rodrigues.
As several players tussled at the boards, Bobrovsky skated from his side of the ice, dropped his gloves and zeroed in on Nedeljkovic.
For a player who had never gotten into a fight during his 16-year NHL career, Bobrovsky didn’t hesitate to take on Nedeljkovic. This was also the first NHL fight for the Sharks’ goaltender, but he had previously tussled with fellow goalie Ryan Massa when he played in the ECHL, according to The Athletic (via HockeyFights.com).
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Bobrovsky versus Nedeljkovic was also the first fight between goalies in an NHL game since 2020, according to SportsNet.
