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Your results may vary, but from here, novelty carries a lot of weight when it comes to noting an NHL fight.
Two superstar Tampa Bay Lightning players dropped the gloves in the same period against the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday, and while neither showing was especially boisterous or violent, the rarity really drives the point home.
So both Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman drop the gloves in the same period. Don't think I've ever seen that before #tblightning
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) February 25, 2018
As that tweet spoils, Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman were the Bolts players who got a little testy in this one.
First, Stamkos went after Karl Alzner in defense of running mate Nikita Kucherov (see the video above this post’s headline). Some might argue that this was less of a fight and more of an aggressive hugging, but it’s still an unusual sight. According to Hockey Fights’ listings, Stamkos has only fought on two other occasions in the NHL: against Brad Marchand (2014-15) and Nik Zherdev (2008-09).
Hedman, meanwhile, dropped the gloves despite a considerable height advantage over Brendan Gallagher. You can see a portion of that fight in this GIF:
Gallagher and Hedman don't like each other... pic.twitter.com/zqZzYnVQ2Y
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) February 25, 2018
While this might explain the anger:
This might be why... pic.twitter.com/g3ttgG2k05
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) February 25, 2018
This would be Hedman’s sixth fight.
Theory: Lightning players are just as anxious as the rest of us to see if they’re going to land Erik Karlsson.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.