It’s not every day you see two legitimate superstars drop the gloves in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But, that’s what we witnessed on Saturday evening in Game 3 of the Toronto Maple Leafs vs Tampa Bay Lightning series when Auston Matthews and Steven Stamkos went at it.
In fact, that was Matthews’ very first NHL fight since coming into the league in 2016. Take a look. Per Brady Trettenero:
Steven Stamkos vs Auston Matthews 😳 pic.twitter.com/zTxulUiAjL
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) April 23, 2023
Both guys got some decent blows in there but it does look like Stamkos got the better of the Leafs center, who is by no means a scrapper. Absolutely wild scenes in Tampa in a thrilling contest between the two Eastern Conference rivals.
Matthews is having a fantastic series so far, notching four assists through Games 1 and 2 before scoring in Saturday’s affair. It was actually refreshing to see him fight his own battle for once, but I’m not sure if anyone could’ve predicted he’d go toe to toe with Stamkos.
The bout came to fruition after Morgan Reilly’s nasty hit on Brayden Point into the boards, which resulted in the Lightning star heading to the locker room briefly but he did return to the ice shortly after. Nikita Kucherov came in and took down Reilly before Stamkos and Matthews also entered for their short but sweet brouhaha:
Full speed replay of Morgan Reilly/ Brayden Point pic.twitter.com/QhNJ4JQsVP
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) April 23, 2023
The fight between Auston Matthews and Steven Stamkos was also the first-ever between 60-goal scorers, per SN Stats:
Steven Stamkos & Auston Matthews
First fight in NHL history between players who have had a 60-goal season
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) April 23, 2023
I highly doubt we’ll see Matthews fight again anytime soon. For what it’s worth, Toronto ended up winning the game in overtime by a score of 4-3, with none other than Reilly scoring in the extra period. A huge victory for Sheldon Keefe’s squad, who are now up 2-1 in this first round matchup.