Last night, the Calgary Flames and Detroit Red Wings put up a staggering 141 penalty minutes after a third period brawl.
It might be a lot to see in today’s game, but it pales in comparison to some of the games with the most penalty minutes of all time. Last week, we did a post on some of the teams that have fought each other the most in the NHL. Well, the feistiest team of the bunch also features at the top of this list, due to an epic brawl in 2004.
Here are the five most penalty minutes given out in a single NHL game (Hockey Reference only keeps stats from 1987-88):
Philadelphia Flyers vs. Ottawa Senators 2004-03-05 – 417 PIM
After their previous game in which Mark Recchi was almost hit in the head in the head by Martin Havlat’s stick, a fight between Donald Brashear of the Flyers and Rob Ray of the Senators started a massive brawl. Brashear got into another fight on his way to the box and then everybody on the ice just went bananas.
Minnesota North Stars vs. Boston Bruins 1981-02-26 – 406 PIM
According to ESPN, the first period of this game lasted an hour and 31 minutes due to a string of fights that resulted in 67 penalties (341 total minutes).
Buffalo Sabres vs. Minnesota North Stars 1992-03-31 – 358 PIM
Several times in the game, things seemed to break into chaos. Christian Ruuttu went after Derian Hatcher late in the second period starting one of the biggest line brawls of the game.
Edmonton Oilers vs. Los Angeles Kings 1990-02-28 – 356 PIM
After a Mark Messier vs. Marty McSorley fight earlier in the game, Kelly Buchberger hit a Kings player from behind and re-ignited the antics leading to a boat load of penalty minutes. Of course, McSorley led the game with 37 PIM.
New York Islanders vs. Pittsburgh Penguins 2011-02-11 – 342 PIM
A hit from Maxim Talbot in a previous game sparked a lot of controversy between these two teams, as it concussed the Islanders’ Blake Comeau. Two brawls occurred in the game and by the end of it, only 12 players escaped the affair without a penalty minute.
There is a lot of carry over in these matchups, so maybe the next time the Red Wings and Flames, they can take a shot at the top.
BONUS: Russian Night Hockey League - 802 penalty minutes
We'll let the video of Hammer and Yugan speak for itself.