The Tampa Bay Lightning are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play their home games at Amalie Arena in Downtown Tampa.
Tampa Bay Lightning: Fan knocked out| Fan fight| Game 6
Fan knocked out:
A hot-tempered Rangers fan from Staten Island was banned from Madison Square Garden for life Friday after he cold-clocked a Tampa Bay Lightning fan from Massachusetts — then punched a good Samaritan who tried to stop him from skating off, police and stadium officials said.
Wearing a red shirt with Artemi Panarin’s No. 10 emblazoned on the back, James Anastasio had just watched the Rangers fall to the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 during game five of the Eastern Conference matchup Thursday night.
Fan Fight:
Police said the two had engaged in a verbal dispute previously and that Anastasio ran away after striking the Lightning fan. Another individual tried to stop him from fleeing and was also punched in the face. Neither victim was hospitalized but both sustained pain and bruising.
Anastasio was exiting the stadium at about 10:45 p.m. when he was captured on video turning and sucker-punching a 26-year-old man in a Tampa Bay Jersey walking behind him, police say. The Lightning fan fell backward, unconscious and surrounded by dozens of stunned hockey fans.
Game 6:
Brayden Point scored with 1:56 left in overtime, and the Tampa Bay Lightning evened their Eastern Conference First Round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 4-3 win in Game 6 at Amalie Arena on Thursday.
Point scored on a rebound shot that trickled past Maple Leafs goalie Jack Campbell’s pad before being inadvertently put into the net by Michael Bunting.
“[Brandon Hagel] does a good job to pick off the pass [and] driving the net is something we’ve tried to focus on this series,” Point said. “Hagel makes a great play to [Alex Killorn] and ‘Killer’ puts the puck on net. The rebound comes to me and, fortunately, it went in.”
