April 22, 2023, 10:24 PM
It’s not often fans get to see two NHL superstars square off in a spirited tilt.
But this is the Stanley Cup Playoffs, this is Maple Leafs-Lightning, and during Saturday night’s Game 3, Auston Matthews and Steven Stamkos exchanged blows.
After a collision into the boards between Tampa Bay forward Brayden Point and Toronto defenceman Morgan Rielly, Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov pounced on Rielly as the two teams gathered for a familiar playoff, after-the-whistle scrum, with Matthews and Stamkos eventually breaking free of the group and engaged.
It was Matthews’ first fight of his NHL career, and the first fight between two players who have recorded 60-goal seasons, so it’s no surprise the bout put the hockey world in a frenzy.