Let them fight! Referees break up rare goalie fight during Kings-Bruins game

Hockey fans know all too well how common fighting is in the sport. It seems like on a nightly basis two guys are dropping the gloves and settling their differences on the ice.

However, it's extremely rare to see goaltenders be the two aggrieved parties wanting to scrap it out. On Sunday, we nearly saw that happen when Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman wanted to get at Los Angeles Kings netminder Darcy Kuemper in the second period of their respective teams' contest. Nothing happened though because the referees spoiled the fun and broke up the fight before it could even begin.

Swayman could be seen chirping at Keumper from center ice and eventually dropping his stick, gloves and helmet before trying to lunge with the first swing. The officials, however, were way ahead them and stepped in before any kind of contact could be made.

Earlier in the play, Kuemper was run into by Boston's Marat Khusnutdinov, creating a fuss between several players in front of the net which eventually grew to include Swayman.

Kings vs. Bruins nearly featured a rare goalie fight

Goalie fights used to be a more common spectacle of the sport. Old timers will remember heavyweight bouts between legends of the game like Patrick Roy vs. Mike Vernon or Ron Hextall vs. Felix Potvin.

But since 2014, there have been only three official goalie fights — all before 2020 — indicating that part of the game is quickly dying off. But Swayman and Kuemper almost brought it back for a sweet swan song... until the stripes inserted themselves.

It's understandable why goalies don't fight much. Their equipment is heavy and it prevents any sort of flexibility when trying to swing at an opponent. That being said, who doesn't want to see the big fellas tussle even if it's not a high-quality bout?