The Tampa Bay Lightning pulled off a stunning win over the Boston Bruins in Sunday's Navy Federal Credit Union Stadium Series at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, as the Bolts battled back from a 5-1 deficit to score a 6-5 victory via shootout.
And speaking of battle, there was that wild goalie fight that added to the incredible electricity in the stadium, with Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy and Jeremy Swayman trading punches in the second period.
Everybody seemed to love the goalie fight from the over 60,000 fans inside the stadium to all those who followed the game on social media.
Of course, the players loved it, too.
“I was pumped,” Lightning star Nikita Kucherov said about the goalie fight (h/t Joe Smith of The Athletic). “I knew he was going to beat the wheels off Swayman right away. We call (Vasilevskiy) ‘Tyson’ now.”
It was also a historic scrap, as there had been no goalie fight in an outdoor game in the NHL until Vasilevskiy and Swayman decided to throw it down in the middle of the ice. Moreover, it was the first NHL fight for Vasilevskiy.
“It was one of the biggest moments for me personally, because I never fought in the NHL,” Vasilevskiy added. “So big thanks to him for that.”
Vasilevskiy, a two-time Stanley Cup winner and a former Vezina Trophy winner, surrendered five goals on 34 shots faced against the Bruins, but he got it together down the stretch, as the Lightning completed a come-from-behind win.
Kucherov earned the first-star honor after tallying four points. He had three assists and scored the game-tying goal in the third period that forced overtime, where Jake Guentzel found the back of the net to give Tampa Bay its 35th win in the 2025-26 NHL regular season.
Now on a three-game winning streak, the Lightning will next face the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa.
