Charlie Lindgren almost got in the first goalie fight of his career on Saturday during the Washington Capitals’ disastrous second period against the Ottawa Senators.

After the Capitals fell behind 1-0 in the first 20 minutes, Lindgren surrendered three more goals in the following stanza, beginning with a bad-luck Shane Pinto tally, where he got crashed into while trying to defend the crease. The Capitals challenged for goaltender interference, but because Jakob Chychrun bumped into Pinto first, the goal stood. The Senators scored on the resulting power play that came about due to the failed challenge and added another tally shortly thereafter.

Nearing the period’s end, the competitive Lindgren was seeing red, and when he got bumped in the crease by Senators forward Ridley Greig, he lost it.

“I think [Greig] was going out (of the crease) with Marty,” Lindgren said. “I didn’t want to see Marty getting taken advantage of. And so, I tried to step in and do my part, and that’s it.”

The Outlaw fired several punches at Greig as both players combined into an angry mass of humanity behind the Capitals’ net.

“Obviously, emotions were running high at that point,” Lindgren said. “And yeah, the refs did a good job of kind of making sure no one got taken advantage of. But yeah, I was running hot at that point.”

Once Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark got wind of what was happening, he flew out of his goalie crease and skated all the way down to the other end of the ice, sassily throwing down his goalie glove and blocker, along with his goalie stick, onto the rink.

Speaking after the game, Ullmark said that regardless of his warm feelings towards Lindgren, he felt compelled to show up for his teammates.

“Well, what can I say? I love Charlie,” Ullmark said postgame. “I think he’s a heck of a goaltender. Obviously, he’s very fired up, ever since I think it was the second goal that was allowed as well. So he shows a lot of emotions.

“So when he goes in there and sticks up for his guys, I could have stood waiting as well. But as soon as it kind of kept going, it’s not really about the actual fight. It’s more about showing up for the guys and showing your presence. It’s not like I’m looking for it. I don’t want to instigate or anything like that in my game or anything. It’s just what the situation was devolving to.”

Ullmark went into the pile and reached for Lindgren, trying to pull him out, but officials kept the two heavily-padded men separated as cooler heads eventually prevailed.

For Lindgren, despite what happened on the ice, he was not trying to instigate a goalie fight with Ullmark or try to fire up his teammates down 4-0.

“No, it never even crossed my mind,” Lindgren said. “Like, I’m not a fighter myself. I don’t think I’ve ever even thrown a proper punch in my life. So yeah, it’s something, I remember in juniors I maybe got asked a few times, but I’ve never been in a goalie fight. But again, when the intensity is that high, I think things kinda just happen. And again, you just play the cards you’re dealt and whatever was going to happen there was going to happen.”

He added, “I have a ton of respect for Ullmark. And we kind of grew up playing each other in the American League. And I didn’t even see he was coming down until pretty much I was tangled up with the refs. So I mean, at the end of the day, what happened is what happened and moved forward.”

While the two goaltenders admitted they have a great love and respect for each other, it wouldn’t have been the first time a Capitals goalie and a friend on the other team came to blows. Olie Kolzig and Bryon Dafoe, who were once teammates on the Baltimore Skipjacks and the Washington Capitals in the early 1990s, fought each other on November 21, 1998, during a Capitals-Bruins game despite being close friends and serving as best men at each other’s weddings.

Kolzig, who now serves as a Capitals development coach, could likely give Lindgren a tip or two on how to tie up an angry opposing goaltender or throw a good haymaker. Though for Lindgren, he didn’t seem to be keen on using his hands for anything more than catching or blocking pucks away from the net as he struggled to remember the last time something like that happened in a game he played.

“If I have, it’s probably been a while,” Lindgren said. “It’s probably been since, I guess, maybe in American League I was in one. But yeah, it’s very rarely where that happens.”