Bird Becomes Hockey Guy At UBS Arena, Sparks Islanders Overtime Win

It's not unusual to see wildlife interrupt a sporting event, but it is when that sport is played inside most of the time. However, that's what we got on Tuesday night when a bird decided to check out a New York Islanders game at UBS Arena.

The Islanders took on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night in an important Metropolitan Division clash, as these two teams are neck-and-neck in the standings.

With just over a minute left in the first period, with the game knotted at 1-1, a small bird proved that it's a certified Hockey Guy (Bird?) by hanging around to catch the final minute of action while others were off to grab another beer or take a leak… or both.

Sitting at the glass, too. He's a real fan.

In fact, he even hopped down onto the ice at one point.

Now, even I, a man who has gone on record about my struggles with ornithophobia (fear of birds to the layperson), can appreciate this. I'm not saying that if I was out there on the ice and noticed that feathered fan, I wouldn't have been a little tense. But I can always appreciate a Hockey Guy.

Or gal! I'm not up to speed on bird-sexing.

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Fortunately, this video doesn't end with that bird getting swatted by Manu Ginóbili or drilled in the beak by a Randy Johnson heater.

It was captured by the folks at UBS Arena in some sort of box lined with a towel and released into the wilds of Long Island.

That bird made a run straight toward traffic. I was scared this would end tragically for a second.

But it's all good (I hope), and Rally Bird will go down as an Isles legend.

Shortly after he was spotted, Islanders rookie Matthew Schaefer scored to put them ahead 2-1 before the first intermission.

For the rest of the night, the two teams battled it out, with Bo Horvat notching his second of the game to give the Islanders a big 5-4 overtime win.