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The Bruins' Jeremy Swayman and the Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy electrified their teammates and the crowd at Sunday's outdoor game. Mike Carlson / Getty Images
TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper, dressed like Tony Montana from “Scarface,” walked toward his team’s dressing room following an outdoor game for the ages, took a puff from his Cuban and smiled.
“I needed a cigar after this one,” Cooper said. “Holy s—.”
The NHL had never staged a Stadium Series game like this. It needed an engineering marvel, as commissioner Gary Bettman put it, to pull off. And, boy, did the game live up to the hype on the ice, with the Lightning overcoming a four-goal deficit to beat the Bruins 6-5 in a shootout in front of 64,317 at Raymond James Stadium.
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The game featured 11 goals, a goalie fight, the fastest goal in outdoor game history and a debated/negated overtime winner for the Bruins.
Did we mention a goalie fight?
Because that, more than the result, more than the slick arrival wear (the Lightning wore Tampa Bay Buccaneers creamsicle uniforms while the Bruins dressed like patriots from the American Revolution), more than the Tim McGraw concert, is what everyone will remember the most. When Andrei Vasilevsky raced to mid-ice to challenge Jeremy Swayman to a fight midway through the second period, it changed the complexion of the game, fueled a comeback and turned what could have been a ho-hum blowout into a historic finish.
Here was Vasilevskiy, a two-time Stanley Cup champion and former Conn Smythe winner, already ticked off that he had given up five goals. Then Swayman hit Brandon Hagel with his blocker a few times during a post-whistle scrum near the crease.
“It was just a reflex to run to the red line and challenge him,” Vasilevskiy said. It was a reflex from everyone on both benches to wonder, as Jake Guentzel put it, “What is going on?”
“I was pumped,” Lightning star winger Nikita Kucherov said. “I knew he was going to beat the wheels off Swayman right away. We call (Vasilevskiy) ‘Tyson’ now.”
Jon Cooper: Aura farm ✨ #StadiumSeries pic.twitter.com/9VkEqPUkP7
— NHL (@NHL) February 2, 2026
Vasilevskiy and Swayman tussled near mid-ice, with the Russian surprising everyone — from teammates to the Boston goaltender — by coming out swinging as a southpaw. (Vasilevskiy once told me he was left-handed because he couldn’t find a right-handed glove growing up).
“It was one of the biggest moments for me personally, because I never fought in the NHL,” Vasilevskiy said. “So big thanks to him for that.”
“Fighting the biggest, toughest goalie in the league wouldn’t be my first choice,” Swayman said. “But I’m glad I got the first one out of the way. Probably retired after that.”
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The fight electrified the crowd and both benches, with the two combatants sharing a smile and pats on the back afterward.
“I’ll remember that forever,” said the Bruins’ Morgan Geekie, who scored two goals.
“Pretty good entertainment, wasn’t it?” Boston coach Marco Sturm asked.
GOALIE FIGHT AT THE #STADIUMSERIES
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🇨🇦: @Sportsnet & @TVASports ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/OSydD4j1cq
— NHL (@NHL) February 2, 2026
“(Vasilevskiy) is throwing lefties and righties,” Kucherov continued. “I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I don’t want to be the other guy.’ I was so happy. I was so fired up. The bench felt it, and everyone felt it in the building. Ever since that fight, the game was turned.
“Vasy had to do it to wake us up.”
The Lightning, after Brandon Hagel scored 11 seconds in for the fastest goal in outdoor game history, were handled pretty well by the Bruins for a while. Boston scored five straight goals to take a 5-1 lead eight minutes into the second. The very Lightning-heavy crowd had been quieted, stunned after an effort that didn’t befit a team on a 16-1-1 tear heading in.
It wasn’t worthy of the effort to get this game in place — Lightning owner Jeff Vinik pushing for it aggressively over his first 16 years at the helm. That was the message from Cooper after the first intermission, and it had to look weird coming from a guy who was channeling the area’s Cuban history with his white suit, red shirt unbuttoned, gold chain and all.
“They were quicker, faster, everything in the game,” Cooper said. “They were all over us. And then it got worse. All of a sudden, it was 5-1, and I wanted to get out of this (outfit) and put on a hazmat suit. It was tough. But the goalie fight got us more engaged in the game.”
The Lightning were down 5-2 at the time of the fight, with Oliver Bjorkstrand having scored on the power play to bring them to within three. The Bruins gave Tampa Bay plenty of help in getting back in the game, taking three penalties in a 90-second span in the bout’s aftermath, including Swayman’s delay of game call.
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Two power play goals in 24 seconds, both on five-on-three opportunities, came next from Darren Radysh and Nick Paul. With four minutes left, it was a whole new game, and the building was electric.
“I think everyone kind of believed in their skill set and the opportunity that they had,” Kucherov said. “It’s just, ‘Stay calm and don’t panic and we can do it.'”
Kucherov, adding a four-point night to a Hart Trophy-caliber season, tied the game and forced overtime with eight minutes left on a snipe off a pass from McDonagh — a move the two practice all the time over the summer. The Russian superstar nearly ended it in overtime with a breakaway, but Swayman made another terrific stop among his 36 saves. Earlier in overtime, the Bruins thought they had won it on a Pastrnak shot off the rush, but the play had been ruled dead earlier thanks to a Pastrnak slashing call.
Cooper said that on the Lightning bench, they heard five whistles and realized it’d be a penalty. The Bruins didn’t seem to get the same message.
“I have no clue what happened, honestly. It’s a freaking turnover. We got a two-and-one,” Pastrnak said. “A referee has an arm up and is letting it go. Sway is going to the bench. We finish the play, score a goal and all of a sudden I’m in the penalty box. So (it’s a) joke. I don’t understand. I’ve never seen something like that.”
Guentzel would score the only goal in the shootout. After Vasilevskiy made one final save, the sellout crowd chanted his name: “VASY! VASY!”
The 45th NHL outdoor game delivered. The weather ended up being perfect — unseasonably cold at 41.8 degrees for the opening faceoff. There were so many little touches, such as players entering the ice via a plank where they slapped high-fives with dressed-up pirates surrounded by cannons and barrels. The one thing missing for the Lightning was Vinik, who couldn’t attend after suffering a leg fracture on a recent snowmobiling trip with his kids in Norway. But you could bet he was watching from afar.
“This was one you’ll remember for the rest of your life,” Guentzel said.
As McDonagh was walking toward the dressing room after the game, he just shook his head.
“Everybody got their money’s worth,” he said. “Might have earned another outdoor game in five, 10 years.”
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Joe Smith is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Minnesota Wild and the National Hockey League. He spent the previous four years as Tampa Bay Lightning beat writer for The Athletic after a 12-year-stint at the Tampa Bay Times. At the Times, he covered the Lightning from 2010-18 and the Tampa Bay Rays and Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2008-13. Follow Joe on Twitter @JoeSmithNHL
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