Lightning vs Golden Knights brawl
(Screenshot/ Bally Sports)

This is old time hockey.

The Tampa Bay Lightning and Vegas Golden Knights played a feisty affair Thursday night at Amalie Arena. The cross-conference matchup featured a line brawl that resulted in 122 PIM handed out.

Vegas and Tampa Bay only play each other twice a year, but you wouldn’t be able to tell based on the events of Thursday’s game. By the time the final buzzer had sounded, there were 146 penalty minutes total on the gamesheet.

With tensions mounting between the two teams in the final period, a melee unfolded with 7:46 to go. The whole thing started when Vegas forward Keegan Kolesar delivered a late hit after the whistle, prompting Lightning forwards Pat Maroon and Corey Perry to take exception.

Check out the Lightning vs Golden Knights brawl below.

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There is nothing that screams “old time hockey” more than an eight-man dogpile in the middle of the ice. Corey Perry, of course, was in the middle of it. The Bolts’ pesky agitator unleashed some punches as he was aggressively dragged across the ice during the scuffle. Meanwhile, two linesmen desperately tried to break things up.

When the dust settled, there were 122 total PIM handed out from the brawl. This is how it looked on the NHL scoresheet:

The brawl took place with less than ten minutes remaining in regulation, so any player who received misconduct was automatically ejected. Pat Maroon, Keegan Kolesar, Corey Perry, Zach Bogosian, Brett Howden, Haydn Fleury, Teddy Blueger, Nicolas Hague, Michael Eyssimont, and Zach Whitecloud all headed to the locker room early.

The Bolts went on to win the game 4-3 thanks to an overtime goal from Alec Martinez. The benches were pretty empty in the overtime period, so the two coaches didn’t have to think too hard about which players to send out in overtime.

It’s unfortunate that both these two teams play in different conferences because we’d love to see a Tampa Bay vs Vegas playoff series. Perhaps a Stanley Cup Final isn’t out of the question given the talent of both sides. For now, we’ll circle the first meeting between the two teams in 2023-24 on our calendars.