Watch: Stamkos drops gloves with Alzner after hit on Kucherov
Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Steven Stamkos isn't known as a fighter, but that didn't stop him from coming to the defense of teammate Nikita Kucherov on Saturday.
After Montreal Canadiens blue-liner Karl Alzner lined up Kucherov with a near knee-on-knee hit, Stamkos responded, dropping the gloves with the veteran rearguard.
The two traded a few jabs in the otherwise underwhelming scuffle. When the dust settled, Alzner was handed a five-minute major, while Stamkos walked away with a major penalty, a 10-minute misconduct, and an instigator call.
It marked the third fight of Stamkos' career, with his most recent bout coming against Brad Marchand in 2015.