Vasilevskiy Drops the Gloves, Lightning Spark Historic Comeback in Stadium Series Thriller
In a game already packed with spectacle - an outdoor showdown between two Atlantic Division powerhouses - it took a goalie fight to truly light the fuse. Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy and Boston’s Jeremy Swayman made NHL history on Sunday night, squaring off in the first-ever netminder scrap in a Stadium Series game. And while the punches were flying, so was the momentum - straight into Tampa’s corner.
The fight broke out in the second period with the Lightning trailing 5-2. Tensions had been simmering, and when both benches started to boil over into a scrum, Swayman skated out to center ice and threw down the gauntlet.
Vasilevskiy didn’t hesitate. Helmets and gloves hit the ice, and the two goalies went at it.
Vasilevskiy, nicknamed “The Big Cat” for a reason, got the upper hand. He landed a few lefts before Swayman dropped to a knee, prompting officials to step in and break it up.
But the energy? That was just getting started.
From that moment on, the Lightning looked like a different team.
Brandon Hagel called it the “big turning point in the game,” and it’s hard to argue. Tampa clawed their way back, eventually tying the game in the third and completing the comeback with a 6-5 shootout win - the biggest comeback in franchise history and the largest ever in an NHL outdoor game.
Nikita Kucherov, who tied the game late and scored in the shootout, was fired up postgame. “He was throwing lefts.
I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ I didn’t want to be the other guy,” he said of Vasilevskiy’s impromptu brawl.
“I was so happy. I was so fired up.
I think the bench felt it. Everyone in the building felt it.
Ever since that fight, the game was turned. Vasy had to do it, I guess.
He had to wake us up.”
And wake them up he did.
Kucherov even gave his goalie a new nickname: “White Tyson.”
The shootout saw goals from Kucherov, Gage Goncalves, and Jake Guentzel, sealing a comeback that will be talked about for years - not just because of the scoreboard, but because of the spark that ignited it.
With the win, the Lightning improved to 35-14-4, sitting comfortably atop the Atlantic Division and riding a three-game win streak. The Bruins, meanwhile, dropped to 32-20-4, still in the thick of the playoff hunt but surely stinging from a game that slipped through their fingers - and one that ended with their goalie on the wrong end of a highlight-reel fight.
In a league that rarely sees goalie fights anymore - let alone on the outdoor stage - this one will go down as an instant classic. And for Tampa Bay, it might just be the moment that defines their season.