It took literally no time for the first NHL bubble fight (Video)

It took less than three minutes into the NHL’s return for a grueling fight to break out.

After almost five months, hockey is finally back, but it didn’t really feel official until the gloves were dropped for the first time.

Less than three minutes into the NHL’s first Stanley Cup Qualifying Round game between the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers, frustrations were already running high as Justin Williams and Ryan Strome went toe to toe and treated fans to a back and forth bout.

https://twitter.com/FanSided/status/1289599128654118912?s=20

Justin Williams and Ryan Strome wasted no time

Both Williams and Strome are not the types you’d expect to see fighting, so you can probably chalk it up to some pent up frustration from being away from hockey for all this time. Strome went to the box with a bloodied nose, but arguably landed the better shots. Regardless, the energy on both benches clearly ramped up afterwards.

Outside of the fight, the first period between the Hurricanes and Rangers had just about everything you could ask for. Jacob Slavin scored the first goal of the return 64 seconds into the game, followed by some huge hits, and retaliations. The officials already had their work cut out for them to get the game back under control. The Hurricanes took a 1-0 lead to the locker room after the first period, but the tone was set for the rest of the game.

Keep in mind, this was the first period of the first game back, with potentially eight more days of non-stop hockey for 14 hours straight for the Qualifying Round and Round Robins. After that, we get to the actual Stanley Cup Playoffs for four more rounds of playoff hockey.

Buckle up for the next two months, it’s going to be a wild ride. We’ve never seen anything like this, and we’ll likely never see anything like it.