Blame the refs.
That was the universal reaction from fans as on-ice officials "robbed" fans of a goalie fight between Boston's Jeremy Swayman and Los Angeles' Darcy Kuemper on Sunday.
One said it was "illegal." Others said it should be "grounds for immediate dismisall" or "a fireable offense." Another even suggested "jail time."
Indeed, fans wanted to see a goalie fight. And the fact that officials stopped it from happening was "absolutely heinous."
It's difficult to argue against that point. After all, who doesn't love a good goalie fight?
For one, they're rare. The last time we saw one in the NHL was five years ago. Secondly, they're kind of hilarious.
Unfortunately, fans were once again "robbed" of one from happening on Sunday, when on-ice officials prevented Kuemper and Swayman from getting close to one another.
The play began in the Kings' zone, when Bruins' Marat Khusnutdinov got mixed up with Kuemper in the crease, with Kuemper stripping Khusnutdinov of his helmet. As a scrum ensued, Swayman left his net and skated towards halfway down the ice, beckoning for Kuemper to join him.
"That's Swayman calling Kuemper out to the red line," said one of the announcers.
"They're going to go!" said the other announcer, as Kuemper met his challenge.
Except, sadly, they didn't let it go. Instead, the on-ice officials prevented broke up what could have been the first goalie fight since Edmonton’s Mike Smith and Calgary’s Cam Talbot went at it on Feb. 1, 2020.
"Look at this: Kuemper against Swayman! The referee grabs Swayman. The linesman grabs Kuemper. They won't let it happen!"
The Kings won the game 7-2, but all anyone wanted to talk about was the fight that didn't happen.
"I mean, nobody wants to see that," Kings coach Jim Hiller told reporters. "Well, I shouldn't say that. Neither teams' coaches want to see that because those are some pretty important players you don't want busting up hands or anything like that."
It's true, you don't want to see goalies fight for the same reason you don't want to see star players fight: there's the potential of an injury. Just ask Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro, who missed six weeks with facial fractures and a swollen knee after taking a left hook from Pittsburgh's Brent Johnson in a 2011 fight.
Following the game, Swayman spoke with reporters and revealed the reason why he challenged Kuemper to a fight.
"He touched one of my guys," Swayman said. "I think that was something that I'm not going to accept, and kudos to him. He stepped up, just it got broken up... It didn't happen, so you just move forward."
When asked if challenging Kuemper to a fight was a way to get the Bruins fired up, Swayman once again stressed that it was more about protecting his teammates.
"I think it just comes down to just sticking up for my teammates," Swayman said. "I don't care who it is. It's a guy in the black and gold. You're not going to touch him without getting contested. I care about every one of these guys like a brother. I just went with the way I felt. I felt like it was my turn to step up."