The Bruins Paid Tribute to the Patriots in the Most 'City of Champions' Way Possible, Then Followed it Up With the Goalie Fight of the Year.

Adam Glanzman. Getty Images.

This was Zdeno Chara at the Patriots divisional round win over Houston, revealing that, like a lot of us, he's a big Christian Gonzalez guy. I bring it up by way of preamble to talk about one of the best aspect of being a New England sports fan in the 2000s. And that is the cross-pollination between the four franchises that have produced 13 championships, going on 14, in this, the Century of Massholes. 

Here's another recent example:

And with the Patriots flying off to Santa Clara for Super Bowl Week, that mutual respect among the four, was on full display by the Bruins as they landed in Tampa for the Stadium Series. As both they and the Lightning paid tribute to the football teams that own said stadia:

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I mean no disrespect to the Lightning here. I'm not a fighting man, but I'll throw down with anyone who claims they don't love the creamsicle uni. But Raymond James Stadium hasn't been the scene of such domination since TreVeyon Henderson ran over the Buccaneers for touchdowns of 55- and 69-yards back in November. It's no coincidence a 6-2 Bucs team went 2-7 after that an missed the playoffs. Henderson (and Kyle Williams, who caught a 72-yard strike from Drake Maye) broke their will and effectively ended their season. 

This victory by the Bruins was on that level. I mean, these weren't just some cheap nylon ones you get at Spirit Halloween. Or you see some middle aged townie walking your 4th of July parade in. This wasn't just some creepy Ben Franklin impersonator trying to get into Pam Beasley's pantaloons:

The Bruins did not halfass the assignment. These are impressive, HBO Period Drama-quality costumes. Well done by them. 

I wish I could sit here and say they had the intended effect on the Lightning. But apparently the officiating crew was less impressed than everyone else:

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But whatever. I wish I could get worked up about a regular season NHL game in February, but I lack the bandwidth. In a week, no one's going to remember whether the Bruins added one point or two in the Atlantic Division race. What we'll never forget are the patriots costumes, and the goalie fight that followed a period and a half later. One that made outdoor hockey history:

ESPN -  The Tampa Bay Lightning credited the first goalie fight in an NHL outdoor game for helping to spark their historic Stadium Series comeback win over the Boston Bruins on Sunday.

With 8:59 left in the second period and the Bruins leading 5-2, Lightning forward Brandon Hagel tried to poke the puck from under Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman after a save. Swayman then jumped on top of Hagel next to his crease, leading to a melee between the teams while the Lightning were on a power play. Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy skated from his crease to the opposite blue line during the chaos.

"I just saw Sway was swinging the blocker on [Hagel] a bit, so it was just a reflex to go to the red line and challenge him. He accepted," Vasilevskiy said.

Swayman spotted the Tampa Bay goalie, dropped his stick and skated out to meet Vasilevskiy as the two engaged near center ice. Swayman took off his gloves and mask and signaled to Vasilevskiy to remember to remove his mask before the fists flew. …

Did Swayman know that Vasilevskiy was a lefty before their fight?

"No," the Bruins goalie said curtly, with a laugh. "Glad we both had our first gig against each other. Really worthy opponent."

I'm sure if I studied Journalism in school, I'd be highly trained enough to come up with some metaphor for this. The Patriots defense against the Seahawks or some such weak  analogy. I have no interest. All that matters now is that Boston continues to be the City of Champions, where one team's success feeds into the other three teams and inspires them to further greatness. 

Granted, John Henry has used his Boston Globe to come after the team that's been more successful than his. This was from the lead up to Super Bowl LIII seven years ago:

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But that pathetic, Low-T megalomaniac can't spoil the party the Patriots started in 2001, no matter how criminally low his payroll gets. This is still our time. May the Patriots, Bruins and Celtics keep spoiling us.