Fighting in the NHL gets rarer and rarer, especially those never-ending tilts, where the two combatants exchange punches for minutes without any interference from referees or other teammates. But last night, Jonah Gadjovich and Brenden Dillon turned the clock back with an old-school fight, and everyone absolutely loved it.
The Florida Panthers and the New Jersey Devils were tied 1-1 halfway through the second frame on Tuesday, as Panthers’ Gadjovich and Devils’ Dillon dropped the gloves in front of the Devils’ net.
This wasn’t an ordinary fight, with Gadjovich and Dillon standing at 6’2” and 6’4”. Some claimed on social media that around 100 punches were thrown in the fight that never seemed to end.
”He stepped up and we were both willing to go,” Gadjovich said. ”It ended up being a good fight. Nothing but respect for him, and it seemed to get the fans into it.”
Fight of the year
Gadjovich had his jersey coming up over his head early in the fight, but that didn’t stop him. He and Dillon just kept going at it, and they’ll have some sore knuckles this morning, for sure. Postgame, everyone was thrilled about how things went down, and Panthers head coach Paul Maurice praised the officials for how they acted.
”That’s an old school’er,” Maurice said. ”The linesmen didn’t jump in too early and let two guys hammer away.”
We need more of this in today’s hockey! We absolutely love to see it!
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