Bruins, Kings Goalies Nearly Brawl During Game

A recent game between the Boston Bruins and Los Angeles Kings went from tight contest to a fiery affair. In the second period of their matchup, a scrum broke out around the Kings' goal. In the course of the melee, Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman saw something he didn't like.

Moments later, the Bruins goalie was skating out of his crease and challenging the Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper to fisticuffs. As the two goalies jawed at one another, they moved closer to center ice. The officials were doing everything to keep them from trading punches, and cooler heads prevailed. It was probably the better decision for both net minders and their teams, but it robbed the fans and hockey community of the rarely seen but highly anticipated goalie fight.

Following the game, Swayman was asked what escalated the situation. Speaking to reporters, he said that he won't accept another team's goalie touching one of his teammates.

"He touched one of my guys and that's something that I'm not going to accept," he said. "(Fight) didn't happen so you just move forward."

For Swayman, however, this is just part of being a teammate. He told reporters that he'd do it for any of his fellow Bruins.

"I was just sticking up for my teammates. I don't care who it is," he said. "It's a guy in black and gold. You're not going to touch him. I care about every one of these guys like a brother. That's the way I felt and felt like it was my turn to step up. Thats just part of the game."

That kind of fight and leadership is something the Bruins desperately need in the final weeks of the season. In the time since they've traded their former captain, things have gone downhill. Having someone like Swayman, one of the team's top players, step up and show that level of determination and courage is contagious. The Bruins certainly don't want their franchise goalie dropping the gloves, but his example is something the organization is imploring the rest of the team to adopt.

Endless Pain in 7-2 Loss

The Kings sentenced the Bruins to 1000 years of agony in a complete asskicking

The road goes on forever, and the bleeding only stops when you’re dead.

First Period

Boston strikes first with Elias Lindholm taking a Cole Koepke pass that found him completely unattended by the Kings, who put the Bruins up 1-0!

This turned out to be the punch in the mouth the Kings needed to wake up, and what happened next wasn’t pretty.

It started with Anze Kopitar receiving a long pass from Adrian Kempe, was able to get around the Bruins’ defense, and get Swayman down and out to tie things up with a backhander. 1-1 Everybody...

...Which set up yet another last minute of the period goal-against as Warren Foegele took a completely uncontested pass to get a tip-in shot while four Bruins just kind of watched Philip Danault, who had just whiffed on a scoring chance where he would’ve also been nearly uncontested, to make 2-1 Kings just before the beginning of the 2nd period.

2nd Period

Morgan Geekie breathed a little life into the Bruins, with a key keep-in from Pavel Zacha after both Boston and LA bobbled the puck at the Blueline, allowing him to make a pass straight up the gut to get an easy goal in front of Kuemper. 2-2 Everybody.

And then...the rest of the game happened.

Drew Doughty takes an unattended rebound from a Swayman save and hammers it home, 3-2 Kings...

Then Andrei Kuzmenko skulked the zone as what had to have been the 30th or 40th stretch pass that was never stopped by a player in Black and Gold found purchase as Adrien Kempe set Kuzmenko up for a golden opportunity. 4-2 Kings.

Also, Jeremy Swayman and Darcy Kuemper almost fought, but the linesmen stepped in to stop it before anything happened.

Very funny. Let them go, they’re in enough armor that they can’t really hurt each other or even land decent blows.

Anyway, on to the end.

Third Period

The Kings just victimized Boston at this point.

First up, was Quentin Byfield, who took an Alex Laferriere pass from a block who had to recover quickly to get it off his stick, and Byfield effectively split the D and wired the puck past Swayman blocker-side.

Next, it was Tanner Jeannot’s turn, as he tipped a Brandt Clarke shot from the point straight past Swayman.