Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Luke Witkowski and New York Rangers forward Tanner Glass wasted no time in letting their frustrations play out on the ice.
There is definitely no love lost between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Rangers. Things really started to spiral out of control between these two teams back on October 30th when the New York Rangers unceremoniously demolished the Lightning 6-1 at Madison Square Garden.
Tonight, the Lightning has a unique opportunity in front of them. In addition to the possibility of picking up a much-needed two points in their never-ending quest to find themselves in a good position for postseason play, the Lightning has an opportunity exact some revenge on some old friends.
From the moment the puck dropped, you could feel the tension between these two fans. Unsurprisingly enough, the tension is just as thick in the stands as it is on the ice. Let’s just hope the tensions off the ice don’t escalate to the level they have on the ice already tonight.
Tampa Bay Lightning
New York Rangers forward Tanner Glass had been looking for a fight from the word go tonight. During the opening minutes of the game, things were held to that of a slow boil. As one could easily imagine, this wouldn’t last very long. Before anyone knew what happened, the fires were burning and we had gloves down on the ice.
Who would be Tanner Glass’ opponent in these fisticuffs? The one and only Luke Witkowski would be the one to step up and take one for the team. Given the fact Witkowski has spent so much time this season as a healthy scratch, it wouldn’t be hard to believe he would be looking to get back in the action head first.
Well…in this particular case, fist first. You get the point, though.
Things kicked into high gear tonight around the 6:34 mark in the first period. As we mentioned before, things had been brewing since the moment the puck dropped to start the game, but now it was time for things to get real.
No sooner than the referee dropped the puck in the neutral zone, the sticks slammed to the ice, the gloves were off, and Luke Witkowski and Tanner Glass were face to face, ready to get down to business. Glass would get in the first couple of shots, but once Witkowski answered with a monster right hand, the tide shifted his direction.
Tampa Bay Lightning fans rose from their seats and screamed at the top of their lungs as the fight kicked off. Before long, fans realized they were truly witnessing something special. This was no ordinary fight. The battle between these two determined scrappers would turn into one heck of a hard-hitting fight.
You could tell by the looks on their faces, they meant business here. There was a lot of frustration built up between these two and once the pressure started to release, there was no stopping it. The linesmen learned this one rather quickly. There was a moment when the linemen attempted to step in and stop the fight, but the players were emphatic when they told the linesmen “No!”
The showdown between Witkowski and Glass would go a whopping minute and seven seconds. In the realm of hockey fights, this seems like an eternity; especially when both players were delivering such hard hits to one another. We know the WWE is airing Monday Night Raw tonight, but jeez guys…way to show out.
If you are one of the millions who consider themselves a part of the WWE Universe, this could easily be described as a battle between The Big Show and Braun Strowman. Both of them are fairly strong guys with a hell of a punch. Needless to say, we wouldn’t want to meet either of them in a back alley.
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There is still a lot of hockey left to be played tonight. Hopefully, the Tampa Bay Lightning will be able to use the energy created by Luke Witkowski and his spectacular fighting skills and manifest it into a fired-up offense. The Bolts have a lot on the line tonight and judging by what we’ve seen thus far, it’s going to be one heck of a night.