Lightning superstar Steven Stamkos doesn't get in many fights, and that applies to his tussle with Boston's Brad Marchand Sunday: Stamkos did, in fact, drop his gloves, but by NHL standards, you can't really call what they engaged in a fight.
Tampa Bay Lightning star Steven Stamkos doesn't fight often, but when he does – well, as he showed Sunday in a brief, Greco-Roman wrestling-like encounter with Boston winger Brad Marchand, the Bolts' captain still doesn't throw a lot of punches.
The host Lightning were tied 1-1 with Boston midway through the first period Sunday when, after bumping into each other in the Bruins zone, Marchand and Stamkos both dropped their gloves and made a priority out of going after each other. But be warned: if you're hoping for machine-gun fisticuffs from watching the following video (via SportsnetCanada) of the run-in, you're going to come away disappointed:
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8xUbLUvSGI[/embed]
Neither Stamkos nor Marchand managed to get in a punch, and Stamkos' only other career NHL fight (against then-New York Rangers winger Nikolai Zherdev in November of 2008) wasn't much of a slugfest, either. Stamkos will get praise in the usual circles for defending his team, but all it would've taken was one broken hand to put a severe damper on Tampa's Stanley Cup aspirations this season. He should try to not make this a habit.