The Florida Panthers and San Jose Sharks delivered Monday’s most unexpected moment when goalies Sergei Bobrovsky and Alex Nedeljkovic dropped the gloves for a rare netminder fight.
THINGS GET NASTY BETWEEN THE PANTHERS AND SHARKS AND IT LEADS TO A GOALIE FIGHT OH MY!!! pic.twitter.com/xTJYwsnVvH
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) January 20, 2026
The chaos started when Sharks defenseman Vincent Desharnais took a hit after the whistle from Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues. Nedeljkovic jumped into a scrum to the right of his net.
That’s when Bobrovsky made his move.
The Panthers goalie skated the full length of the ice to confront Nedeljkovic. The Sharks netminder didn’t back down.
Vincent Desharnais lays the boom on Matthew Tkachuk! pic.twitter.com/RgdymMocN6
— NHL (@NHL) January 19, 2026
The fight stemmed from earlier tension when Desharnais delivered a heavy hit on Matthew Tkachuk. The Panthers winger was playing his first game of the season after missing the start following offseason surgery.
Referees handed out 16 penalty minutes from the sequence.
Both goalies received five minutes for fighting plus two minutes for leaving their crease. Desharnais got a two-minute minor for tripping.
Rodrigues skated away without a penalty.
The Sharks won the game 4-1 despite the late-game fireworks.
Monday’s goalie fight marked the NHL’s first since Cam Talbot and Mike Smith scrapped in 2020.
