The Tampa Bay Lightning took on the New York Rangers on Dec 8 and quite a large skirmish ensued after Artem Anisimov scored and pretended to “shoot” Mathieu Garon. You can clearly see Artem mocking a shooting motion with his stick.  The Lightning immediately took exception to the motion and Vinny Lecavalier charged after Artem which set off the melee.

According to ESPN, Anisimov meant no disrespect by the celebration:

“I just want to apologize to Tampa. I didn’t mean something by it. It’s just my celebration and, when I score goals, I want to do something unusual. I apologize to Tampa,” Anisimov said.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”390″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2K31bF2HxM[/youtube]

Story via Deadspin

video via Hockey Fights