Boston Bruins
Swayman and Vasilevskiy dropped the gloves in front of over 64,000 fans at Raymond James Stadium.
TAMPA — Jeremy Swayman finally got his wish.
The Bruins goalie and Tampa Bay Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy dropped the gloves in a rare scrap between goalies — energizing a crowd of more than 64,000 at Raymond James Stadium during Boston’s eventual shootout loss in Sunday’s Stadium Series game.
With the Bruins holding a 5-2 lead over Tampa past the midway point of the second period, the temperature spiked on a chilly night in Tampa after Lightning forward Brandon Hagel tried to jam loose a puck in Swayman’s pads.
Charlie McAvoy took exception and knocked Hagel to the ice, with an incensed Swayman joining in the fray by landing a few shoves against the Lightning forward.
After Swayman removed himself from the dogpile, he looked down the other end of the ice at Vasilevskiy, skating out of his crease as the Tampa goalie made his way to center ice.
With a hockey stick still wedged into his pads, Swayman met Vasilevskiy near the blue line, with the duo dropping the gloves and removing their masks as the crowd roared in approval.
The actual scrap wasn’t exactly a heavyweight bout. Vasilevskiy eventually took Swayman to the ice after they traded a few hooks.
Both Swayman and Vasilevskiy were issued five-minute major penalties for fighting and an additional two-minute penalty for leaving the crease to take part in the fight.
“Fighting the biggest, toughest goalie in the league,” Swayman said. “So wouldn’t be my first choice, but glad we got the first one out of the way. Probably retired after that.”
Both netminders stayed in the game, with Swayman finishing the game with 41 saves in the eventual 6-5 shootout loss.
After the game wrapped, the goalies exchanged words and hugs in the handshake line.
“Yeah, we did,” Swayman said of speaking with Vasilevskiy. “He wanted to win, which is good. So did I. So that’s game respecting game. We see fights every single game, and just got that one out of the way.”
Sunday was Swayman’s first fight as a pro, but the 27-year-old netminder has had run-ins before.
Last March, Swayman nearly got into a fight with Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper before the refs intervened.
In an eventual overtime win over the Canadiens in November 2023, Swayman appeared to challenge Habs goalie Sam Montembeault down the other end of the ice after a full line scrap spilled out around his net.
Just a few months later, Swayman skated out to center ice to challenge Maple Leafs goalie Joseph Woll after more post-whistle pleasantries were exchanged between Boston and Toronto.
Despite the end result of Sunday’s game, Marco Sturm had no issues with Swayman’s scrap in what was a highlight-heavy showdown between Atlantic Division foes.
“This game pretty much had everything,” Sturm said. “It’s unfortunate we were on the wrong side. … Goalie fight. What else you want, right? So I think overall, it was just a good show today and Sway — having a goalie fight? They hugged it out after the game. So I think everything is good.”
Get the latest Boston sports news
Receive updates on your favorite Boston teams, straight from our newsroom to your inbox.
