Watch: Goalie fight breaks out in first period during Thunder-Royals ECHL game

By Anjum Rajonno

Modified Dec 21, 2024 06:53 GMT

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New Jersey Devils’ ECHL affiliate Adirondack Thunder faced off against the Reading Royals on Friday night, and the action on the ice quickly turned into chaos. Just minutes into the first period, a brawl broke out in a rare goalie fight involving Thunder netminder David Fessenden.

The game started in the Thunder’s favor, with two quick goals putting them ahead 2-0. Frustration boiled over for the Royals and Fessenden didn’t hesitate to engage when his counterpart from the Royals challenged him.

In just under eight seconds, Fessenden knocked the Royals goalie down twice, decisively ending the fight. The official ECHL Thunder's account on X posted a clip of the brawl with the caption:

“We have a goalie fight, and oh my, it was quick!”

The Thunder went on to dominate the rest of the game, securing a 4-1 victory.

Fessenden was signed in the offseason after a college career at Alabama-Huntsville, New Hampshire, and Canisius College.

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Fans react to ECHL Thunder-Royals goalie fight

The clip of the brawl from Friday night's game started making the rounds on the internet soon after. Fans took to social media to let their thoughts be known in the comments.

Following are some fan reactions from X:

“That’s some old school Generals hockey @fezzie41!!! #GensFamily”

“Ok who doesn’t love a good goalie fight????”, commented one fan.

“Oooooh shit he wasn't fucking around 😳”, quipped another user.

Fans found the fight entertaining and pointed out how rare goalie fights were. Some said David Fessenden got the better of Keith Petruzzelli in the brawl. Some even opined that the Detroit Red Wings made a wise decision by not going for Petruzzzelli.

"Remember when everyone thought the wings fucked up not signing him when he went to free agency because we had 0 goalie prospects, now we have two high elite prospects in the system, trust the Yzerplan #lgrw", weighed in one user.

“Tough one for former Marlie Keith Petruzzelli”

“We have a ECHL goalie fight and Keith Petruzzelli got his ass handed to him 🤣🤣”, quipped one user.

“Former Wings prospect goaltender Keith Petruzzelli gets absolutely bombed in a coast league goalie fight 😂”, wrote another user.

The Thunder will meet the Royals again on Saturday, with Tyler Brennan expected to start in net.