  We use time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to characterize
the dynamics of the energy gap in superconducting Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta (Bi2212).
Photoexcitation drives the system into a nonequilibrium pseudogap state: Near
the Brillouin zone diagonal (inside the normal-state Fermi arc), the gap
completely closes for a pump fluence beyond F = 15 {\mu}J/cm^2; toward the
Brillouin zone face (outside the Fermi arc), it remains open to at least 24
{\mu}J/cm^2. This strongly anisotropic gap response may indicate multiple
competing ordering tendencies in Bi2212. Despite these contrasts, the gap
recovers with relatively momentum-independent dynamics at all probed momenta,
which shows the persistent influence of superconductivity both inside and
outside the Fermi arc.
