Alex Nedeljkovic vs. Sergei Bobrovsky.
The first official NHL goalie fight in nearly six years – and both goaltenders’ first NHL fights – was an absolute banger.
After Vincent Desharnais – returning to the San Jose Sharks’ roster today – tripped Mackie Samoskevich in the corner and Evan Rodrigues boarded the Sharks’ defenseman in response, Nedeljkovic left his crease and went after Rodrigues, shoving him at the boards.
While the referees pulled the Sharks’ goaltender away from that fight, from across the ice, Bobrovsky was looking for a fight of his own. The six-foot-two-inches Panthers’ goaltender threw off his gloves as he skated across the ice and went after six-foot Nedeljkovic, who stood his ground Bobrovsky as came in for the tackle.
Then came the punches.
GOALIE FIGHT ALERT 🚨
BOBROVSKY VS. NEDELJKOVIC 😱 pic.twitter.com/YPjaIS7tTl
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 20, 2026
Although not too many punches were landed, Nedeljkovic looks to have gotten the better of the fight, with the final takedown belonging to him.
Bobrovsky left the ice immediately after the fight, but returned after a lengthy wait to re-start play.
While the goaltenders each received five-minute majors for fighting and offsetting two-minute penalties for leaving the crease, the Florida Panthers walked away with a power play from the initial Desharnais trip – which the Sharks killed.
Both benches, and the crowd at Amerant Bank Arena, were pumped up after the fight, with the San Jose Sharks youngsters clearly having a blast on a cutaway to the bench aired on the NBC Sports broadcast.
The Sharks bench reaction says it all. pic.twitter.com/glg0Vw6cqH
— Brodie Brazil (@BrodieBz) January 20, 2026
While it is Nedeljkovic’s first official fight in the NHL, it’s not the first of his career.
He and Cam Talbot came close to a fight in 2022 when Nedeljkovic played for the Detroit Red Wings, but the referees pulled the two apart before it fully evolved.
Melee in Detroit, with Minnesota goalie Cam Talbot skating down the ice to join pic.twitter.com/LGX3qlKNVx
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) March 11, 2022
And in April of 2017, he received a game misconduct for fighting, while playing for the Florida Everblades of the ECHL.
The fighting major marked the San Jose Sharks’ second for a goaltender in their history, after Steve Shields fought Steve Passmore of the Chicago Blackhawks in 1999.
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