Bruins’ Jeremy Swayman Jokingly Claims He’s Retiring From Fighting After Stadium Series Tilt

Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman appears to be one-and-done.

Swayman had his first goalie fight in the NHL on Sunday during the Stadium Series game at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. During the second period, when Boston was up 5-2, a scrum broke out, and Swayman went after Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel.

After Swayman went out at Hagel, Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy skated to center ice, where Swayman met him. The two then dropped their gloves and took off their helmets, which the Bruins goalie was happy about.

“I don’t want to hit his helmet, so I’m glad we didn’t do that,” Swayman said on Sunday, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage.

Once the two goalies started to fight, Swayman was caught off guard when Vasilevskiy began throwing with his left hand, which caught the Bruins goalie by surprise.

“No,” Swayman said when asked if he knew Vasilevskiy was a lefty. “Glad we both had our first gig against each other. Really worthy opponent. …

“He wanted to win, which is good. So did I. So that’s game respecting game. I’m fighting the biggest, toughest goalie in the league. It wouldn’t be my first choice, but glad we got the first one out of the way. Probably retire after that.”

Unfortunately, despite getting out to a 5-1 lead, the Bruins lost 6-5 in a shootout to their division rival.

The Bruins fell to 32-20-4 and are holding onto the top wild card spot. Boston will return to the ice on Wednesday on the road against the Florida Panthers.