The second period of the Montreal Canadiens' game at the Boston Bruins Wednesday night was a classic, with eight goals and a line brawl that featured a goalie fight between Carey Price and Tim Thomas.
Well, technically it was a fight; they both received fighting majors and two minutes for leaving the crease. But this was less a fight than sweater grabbing and smiles between friends at the end:
Merry Christmas, Jack Edwards. Gord Miller on TSN said the NHL's sweater tie-down rule doesn't apply to goalies.
This is the second goalie fight on VERSUS in a week, following the infamous Brent Johnson 1-punch takeout of Rick DiPietro of the New York Islanders, sending him to injured reserve. Somehow, that had more action in 3 seconds than this tilt did.
Coming up, the rest of the carnage.
Here's the full line brawl that led to the goalie fight, via TSN:
With 40 seconds left in the third period, there was another line brawl that saw Thomas and Price stay out of the fray. In fact, Thomas helped clean up the equipment after the scrap was over. Here's that brawl:
Wonder what the NHL will have to say about Gregory Campbell using his pad to smack Tom Pyatt in that fight? Oh, right: Absolutely nothing!
The Bruins defeated the Canadiens 8-6. Gaze upon this box score, and witness the Game of the Year thus far.