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NHL goaltenders are getting increasingly feisty! 

Sunday's matchup between the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning figured to be memorable for being played in the outdoor "Stadium Series" setting at Raymond James Stadium. However, the game will likely generate conversation for a different reason. 

Approximately midway through the second period, Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman took issue with Lightning winger Brandon Hagel poking a puck between his pads after a power-play shot from Nikita Kucherov. After the whistle blew, Swayman went after Hagel, tackled him to the ice and began throwing punches at him. 

Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy and winger Tanner Jeannot pulled Hagel away and covered him, presumably to protect their goaltender. But then Swayman noticed Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy leaving his crease and skating down the ice for a confrontation. 

Swayman skated toward the center line to meet Vasilevskiy and they were ready to rumble. 

The Bruins' goaltender quickly ditched his gloves and helmet and gestured for Vasilevskiy to do the same. the two wrestled each other before the Lightning goalie landed the first punch and forced Swayman to the ice before referees stepped in to separate the combatants. 

Apparently thrilled by the clash, Vasilevskiy tapped Swayman on the head as they were pulled apart and smiled broadly. As could be expected, players on both benches stood and tapped their sticks on the boards to show respect for their teammates' pugilistic tendencies. Each goalie was assessed a five-minute penalty for fighting. 

Sunday's face-off was the first fight for both goaltenders during their NHL careers. However, Swayman has previously attempted to throw hands, first with Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Joseph Woll during the 2023-24 campaign and Los Angeles Kings netminder Darcy Kuemper last season. In both instances, referees broke up those potential scuffles before a punch was thrown.

The confrontation occurred nearly two weeks after the San Jose Sharks' Alex Nedeljkovic and Florida Panthers' Sergei Bobrovsky left their creases and dropped the gloves in Sunrise, Florida. (Maybe it's something about playing hockey in Florida that has goalies itching for a fight.) 

Prior to these two scraps, no goalies had fought in an NHL game since 2020, according to SportsNet.

The Lightning came into Sunday's matchup with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference at 34-14-4. The Bruins currently hold the seventh spot in the conference standings at 32-20-3. 

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.

The Sharks' Alex Nedeljkovic and Panthers' Sergei Bobrovsky threw hands at the 14-minute 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).

Did Nedeljkovic win the fight? If the outcome was determined by Bobrovsky falling to the ice first, then yes. But neither player appeared to land a solid or decisive punch. The Sharks players tapped their sticks on the ice and boards to show support for their teammate, however. Meanwhile, Panthers fans supported Bobrovsky by chanting, "Bobby! Bobby! Bobby!"

Bobrovsky versus Nedeljkovic was also the first fight between goalies in an NHL game since 2020, according to SportsNet.

Neither goaltender was ejected from the game, though both were issued five-minute penalties for fighting and two-minute penalties for leaving their respective creases. Altogether, 16 penalty minutes were assessed for the fight, including two minutes to Desharnais for tripping. 

The Panthers (25-20-3) have lost six of their past 10 games, dropping to seventh place in the Atlantic Division and 11th in the Eastern Conference. The Sharks (also 25-20-3) are third in the Pacific Division and hold the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference. 

The Florida Panthers took a 2-1 series lead with a 6-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night.

However, the blowout result came with some additional entertainment halfway through the third period, when a major brawl broke out between the two teams involving all 10 players on the ice. 

The melee appeared to begin with 9:33 remaining in the third period when Oilers center Trent Frederic cross-checked the Panthers' Sam Bennett, breaking his stick in the process. Florida's A.J. Greer and Edmonton's Mattias Ekholm then mixed it up, followed by the Panthers' Nate Schmidt and Oilers' Connor Brown sparring. Defensemen Dmitry Kulikov and left winger Viktor Arvidsson also joined in fisticuffs. 

However, the true standouts of this battle were Panthers winger Jonah Gadjovich and Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse. Neither of these combatants went to the ice as they kept hold of the other's neck and sweater, locked in a violent dance, looking for an opening to land a punch. 

Plenty of overhands and uppercuts were landed by each player as the Panthers fans cheered. Yet rather than try to separate Gadjovich and Nurse, officials let the fighters tire each other out until they couldn't manage any more punches. 

After tensions settled and play resumed with a 5-on-4 Florida power play, Gadjovich, Nurse, Greer, Bennett, Ekholm and Frederic were each given 10-minute misconduct penalties, removing them from the remainder of the game. Edmonton's Evander Kane was also issued a 10-minute misconduct for slashing Carter Verhaeghe — after he was slashed by the Oilers' Evan Bouchard. 

Yet the fighting wasn't finished. Edmonton's John Klingberg and Florida's Matthew Tkachuk went at it from there, with Jake Walman joining in to help his Oilers teammate. That resulted in Walman drawing roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, which ended his night and gave Florida a 5-on-3 power play. But not before the Oilers' Kasperi Kapanen and Panthers' Eetu Luostarinen also mixed it up.

The Panthers scored on the 5-on-3 to boost their lead to 6-1. 

If the Oilers were hoping to take out some frustrations on Florida and try to intimidate them for the remainder of the series, that doesn't appear to have worked at all. Edmonton also tried to start a fight at the end of the first period with the Panthers already ahead 2-0. 

Again, that tactic accomplished nothing for the Oilers. Trying to out-tough the Panthers failed and made Edmonton looked outmatched. 

Brad Marchand, Sam Reinhart, Aaron Ekblad, Evan Rodrigues, Verhaeghe and Bennett scored for Florida. On the Oilers' side, Corey Perry scored the lone goal. 

Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final is scheduled for Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. Will there be more fisticuffs or did both teams get all of that fighting out of their systems? Perhaps the Oilers will also remember that they're supposed to be playing for a championship.

Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin set what was once believed to be an unbreakable sports milestone, overtaking Wayne Gretzky for the all-time goals record in NHL history on Sunday. 

Ovechkin, 39, scored the 895th goal of his career at the 12:34 mark of the second period versus the New York Islanders, taking a pass from Tom Wilson and rocketing a shot past goaltender Ilya Sorokin. The game stopped while the historic occasion was celebrated with congratulations from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and "The Great One," whose record Ovechkin broke. 

"They say records are made to be broken," Gretzky said during the on-ice ceremony, "but I'm not sure who's going to get more goals than that."

Social media quickly filled up with observations and reactions to Ovechkin's historic achievement. The NHL noted that longtime Capitals broadcaster Joe Beninati called Ovechkin's first career goal and was on the mic for No. 895 as well. 

Videos from the scene included the puck from Ovechkin's goal being authenticated for posterity by Capitals equipment manager Brock Myles, who's held that job for 19 years. 

The NHL also played a congratulatory video for Ovechkin featuring messages from a variety of athletes and celebrities, including LeBron James, Simone Biles, Michael Jordan, Roger Federer, Derek Jeter, Mark Messier, Sidney Crosby, Jeremy Roenick, Katie Ledecky, Cody Rhodes and fellow Washington, D.C. sports star Jayden Daniels. 

"Is a thousand a possibility?"" asked Michael Phelps.

Did anything even happen in sports unless the "ArtButMakeItSports" account registered the moment with an amazingly quick artistic equivalent? 

Another of D.C.'s sports teams, the Washington Nationals, noted the occasion with an image of Ovechkin throwing out a ceremonial first pitch. Additionally, the team played video of the goal on the scoreboard at Nationals Park, which started a loud ovation and "OVI!" chant among the fans at the ballpark. 

The PGA Tour also congratulated Ovechkin, replaying a clip of the 20-year veteran making a hole-in-one during the first round of golf he ever played. Some people just have a natural talent for getting the ball or puck exactly where it's supposed to go. 

Social media being what it is, some couldn't resist making some jokes, though not at Ovechkin's expense. 

And staying true to the home team, the Islanders' X account simply noted that the Capitals had scored to cut their lead to 2-1. 

That wasn't wrong, of course. But context is everything.