Six years after Karl Alzner‘s first and only NHL fight with Steve Downie, he dropped the gloves again in Montreal’s Bell Centre.
With a little over five minutes remaining in the first period, Steven Stamkos, he of two-career fights, pounced Alzner.
Then the two danced.
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Neither player landed a punch. Instead, the two spun around in circles while hugging each other. After taking Stamkos’ helmet off, Alzner landed three body-blows to his gut.
Here’s how the fight began.
Alzner was being asked to answer for what Stamkos thought was an intentional knee-on-knee hit to Nikita Kucherov.
Though Alzner did hit Kucherov’s knee, it appeared to be accidental contact.
The Canadiens defenseman received a five minute fighting penalty, while the Lightning forward sat for fighting, instigating, and a misconduct.
Kucherov did not miss any game time and later scored a power-play goal during the second period.
