Alex Nedeljkovic called his goalie fight with Sergei Bobrovsky a bit of an "oh crap" moment, but their scrap drew a ton of attention on X Monday night, even while the college football national championship was on.
The storyline entering Monday's game between the San Jose Sharks and Florida Panthers was Matthew Tkachuk's long-awaited return to the Cats' lineup.
That all changed when goaltenders Alex Nedeljkovic and Sergei Bobrovsky squared off in a rare goalie fight during the third period.
It all started with a scrum in the right-hand corner of the Sharks' zone after San Jose D-man Vincent Desharnais received a tripping penalty. Nedeljkovic entered the mess of Sharks and Panthers players and shoved Panthers center Evan Rodrigues. But just as he was stepping back, in came Bobrovsky from the opposite side of the ice.
"Sergei Bobrovsky came 200 feet to throw punches with Alex Nedeljkovic," said Panthers play-by-play broadcaster Steve Goldstein.
The tussle has taken the hockey community by storm on social media, even drawing attention away from the college football national championship game between the Miami Hurricanes and Indiana Hoosiers.
"Who cares about the National Championship, we have a GOALIE FIGHT IN THE NHL," Ryan Sura of OwnersBox posted on X.
"I woulda never thought a Sharks/Panthers game in late January was gonna be must watch hockey," @StonerDad posted.
"I love goalie fights. They look like they're in those inflatable sumo outfits," @hockeynutbag said.
Several fans noticed how long it took for Bobrovsky's helmet to be removed, as they believed he should've taken it off himself sooner.
"Bob a classless Panther like all the rest. Doesn’t take off his helmet?! Laughable," @pharmaziz said on X.
"Gotta take the helmet off Bob," @jeff152390 wrote.
"Keeps his bucket on and still takes the L lmao," @Caniac1551 posted on X.
Players who remove their helmets before a fight are assessed a two-minute minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, so Bobrovsky removed Nedeljkovic's helmet, and vice versa. Of course, by leaving the crease, each goalie received minor penalties anyway on top of their fighting majors.
Bobrovsky and Nedeljkovic had the first goalie fight the NHL has seen in nearly six years. The last one was between Mike Smith and Cam Talbot for the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, respectively.
"It's been a long time since I've seen two NHL goalies going at it but I love it!" @PeterRajotte posted on X.
"Mike Smith and Cam Talbot's was better," @prestonkeen9799 said.
Nedeljkovic broke down the scrap on NBC Sports California post-game.
"One of the guys started yelling, and I don't know why I felt the need to turn around, but it was a little bit of like an 'oh crap' moment – sorry, sorry, – and fight or flight kicked in," Nedeljkovic said. "I tried to watch (Ryan Reaves) as best as I could, and I hope I made him a little bit proud out there."
Pittsburgh Penguins fan @JRNailer21 took notice of his team's former netminder dropping the gloves, which came one year after he scored a goalie goal with the Pens.
The Sharks went on to get the best of Bobrovsky and the Panthers as they took the contest 4-1.
"I can't believe people missed this goalie fight for some irrelevant National Championship game!" wrote @FlaCatsHistory.
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