Alex Nedeljkovic vs. Sergei Bobrovsky.<\/p>\n
The first official NHL goalie fight in nearly six years \u2013 and both goaltenders\u2019 first NHL fights \u2013 was an absolute banger.<\/p>\n
After Vincent Desharnais<\/a> \u2013 returning to the San Jose Sharks\u2019 roster today \u2013 tripped Mackie Samoskevich in the corner and Evan Rodrigues boarded the Sharks\u2019 defenseman in response, Nedeljkovic left his crease and went after Rodrigues, shoving him at the boards.<\/p>\n While the referees pulled the Sharks\u2019 goaltender away from that fight, from across the ice, Bobrovsky was looking for a fight of his own. The six-foot-two-inches Panthers\u2019 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.<\/p>\n Then came the punches.<\/p>\n GOALIE FIGHT ALERT \ud83d\udea8 <\/p>\n BOBROVSKY VS. NEDELJKOVIC \ud83d\ude31 pic.twitter.com\/YPjaIS7tTl<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 20, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Although not too many punches were landed, Nedeljkovic looks to have gotten the better of the fight, with the final takedown belonging to him.<\/p>\n Bobrovsky left the ice immediately after the fight, but returned after a lengthy wait to re-start play.<\/p>\n 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 \u2013 which the Sharks killed.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The Sharks bench reaction says it all. pic.twitter.com\/glg0Vw6cqH<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Brodie Brazil (@BrodieBz) January 20, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n While it is Nedeljkovic\u2019s first official fight in the NHL, it\u2019s not the first of his career.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Melee in Detroit, with Minnesota goalie Cam Talbot skating down the ice to join pic.twitter.com\/LGX3qlKNVx<\/a><\/p>\n