We’ve Got The First Fight In PWHL History And It Even Led To A Gordie Howe Hat Trick

The 4 Nations Face-Off finale had most people's attention on Thursday night (congratulations to Canada, by the way; the US will just use the loss as fuel for the Olympics next year), but the ladies of the Professional Women's Hockey League were putting on a show of their own with the first fight in the league's history.

And better yet, one of the combatants secured herself what would automatically be the first Gordie Howe hat trick in league history.

Mr. Hockey would be proud…

While the fellas were playing at Boston's TD Garden, the Boston Fleet was in the Canadian capital's TD Place to take on the Ottawa Charge, and that's where things got fiery between Boston's Jill Saulnier and Ottawa's Tereza Vanisova.

You see plenty of intensity and even some pretty ferocious scrums in women's hockey, but you don't see too many bonafide fights.

Saulnier and Vanisova started jousting, and that jousting turned into some knuck-chuckin.

Now, you'll notice the gloves weren't dropped, but why would you want to punch the other player's cage with your bare hands? I wouldn't.

But believe it or not, that dust-up only resulted in some roughing minors for both women, per the game notes.

I don't care how it was called, that's a fight in my book.

Vanisova scored later in the period and tallied an assist (which may have been awarded retroactively, because it's not in the game notes), which made her the second star of the game in Boston's 3-2 overtime loss.

What a night. I'm always so impressed by the PWHL. If you've watched women's hockey over the years, it's typically at the international level, and it's always intense. Well, clearly, that intensity carries over to the PWHL, and in the league's second season, I think we're starting to see some rivalries begin to build.

Great stuff (and I still can't believe they only got double minors; that's awesome).