NHL Fights 2018-19
Every NHL fight of the season from the official play-by-play: the players and teams who fight most, the latest fights with links to each game, and how fighting has changed since 2017-18.
10 NHL players are tied for the lead with 6 fights in the 2018-19 regular season, 1 more than the next 4.
Most fights, 2018-19
Kyle CliffordLAK6last Apr 2
Brendan LemieuxNYR6last Apr 1
Barclay GoodrowSJS6last Mar 30
Tom WilsonWSH6last Mar 30
Matt CalvertCOL6last Mar 19
Patrick MaroonSTL6last Mar 19
Boston Bruins0.3226 in 82 GP
New York Rangers0.3025 in 82 GP
Ottawa Senators0.2722 in 82 GP
When fights happen
Of 226 regular-season fights in 2018-19, 72 came in period 1, 90 came in period 2, 64 came in period 3. 22 started in the first five minutes of a game, often a scheduled bout off the opening faceoff; 61 came with one team ahead by three or more goals and 60 with the score tied.
Fights per game by season
| Season | Games | Fights | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | 151 | 44 | 0.29 |
| 2025-26 | 1,312 | 306 | 0.23 |
| 2024-25 | 1,312 | 297 | 0.23 |
| 2023-24 | 1,312 | 311 | 0.24 |
| 2022-23 | 1,312 | 334 | 0.25 |
| 2021-22 | 1,312 | 330 | 0.25 |
| 2020-21 | 868 | 197 | 0.23 |
| 2019-20 | 1,082 | 194 | 0.18 |
| 2018-19 | 1,271 | 226 | 0.18 |
| 2017-18 | 1,271 | 279 | 0.22 |
Regular-season games we have play-by-play for. The current season is partial.
Fight leaders, 2018-19
| # | Player | Fights | Inst. | Opponents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle CliffordLAK | 6 | 1 | Lawson Crouse, Zack Kassian, Nathan Beaulieu, Cody McLeod +2 |
| 2 | Brendan LemieuxNYR | 6 | – | Miles Wood, Jujhar Khaira, Ben Harpur, Connor Carrick +2 |
| 3 | Barclay GoodrowSJS | 6 | 1 | William Carrier, Chris Wagner, Zack MacEwen, Sam Bennett +2 |
| 4 | Tom WilsonWSH | 6 | 1 | Erik Cernak, Ian Cole, Austin Watson, Robert Bortuzzo +2 |
| 5 | Matt CalvertCOL | 6 | – | JT Brown, Joe Morrow, Matt Irwin, Dion Phaneuf +2 |
| 6 | Patrick MaroonSTL | 6 | – | Zack Kassian, Ilya Lyubushkin, Cody McLeod, Zdeno Chara +2 |
| 7 |  Micheal FerlandCAR | 6 | – | Casey Nelson, David Backes, Kurtis Gabriel, Mark Borowiecki +2 |
| 8 |  Ben HarpurOTT | 6 | 1 | Brendan Lemieux, Tim Schaller, Scott Mayfield, Michael Rasmussen +2 |
| 9 |  Cody McLeodNSH | 6 | – | Patrick Maroon, Matt Martin, Ross Johnston, Darren Archibald +2 |
| 10 |  Mark BorowieckiOTT | 6 | – | Garrett Wilson, Micheal Ferland, Josh Anderson, Matt Martin +2 |
| 11 |  Micheal HaleySJS | 5 | – | Luke Schenn, Wayne Simmonds, David Backes, Erik Gudbranson +1 |
| 12 |  Marcus FolignoMIN | 5 | – | Joshua Brown, Kurtis Gabriel, Tom Wilson, Luke Schenn +1 |
| 13 |  Sam BennettCGY | 5 | 1 | Marcus Pettersson, Barclay Goodrow, Ryan Suter, Darnell Nurse +1 |
| 14 |  Austin WatsonNSH | 5 | – | Nikita Zadorov, Tom Wilson, Micheal Ferland, Luke Witkowski +1 |
| 15 |  Joshua BrownFLA | 4 | – | Michael McLeod, Kurtis MacDermid, Marcus Foligno, Brenden Dillon |
| 16 |  Nick SeelerMIN | 4 | 1 | Radek Faksa, Kenny Agostino, Nicolas Deslauriers, Kyle Clifford |
| 17 |  MacKenzie WeegarFLA | 4 | 1 | Paul Byron, Noel Acciari, Marcus Pettersson, Brendan Lemieux |
| 18 |  Zack KassianEDM | 4 | – | Kyle Clifford, Patrick Maroon, Troy Brouwer, Jamie Oleksiak |
| 19 |  Yanni GourdeTBL | 4 | – | Jakub Vrana, Pavel Buchnevich, Antoine Roussel, Marko Dano |
| 20 |  Kurtis GabrielNJD | 4 | – | Milan Lucic, Brendan Smith, Micheal Ferland, Marcus Foligno |
Regular season. 246 players have fought.
More fighters, 2018-19
- Nick Foligno CBJ4
- Marcus Pettersson PIT4
- Ian Cole COL4
- Scott Mayfield NYI4
- Zach Bogosian BUF4
- Lawson Crouse ARI3
- Tony DeAngelo NYR3
- Zack Smith OTT3
- Luke Witkowski DET3
- Noel Acciari BOS3
- Troy Brouwer FLA3
- Matt Martin NYI3
- Zdeno Chara BOS3
- Nathan Beaulieu WPG3
- Wayne Simmonds NSH3
- David Backes BOS3
- Chris Wagner BOS3
- Evander Kane SJS3
- John Hayden CHI3
- Brendan Smith NYR3
- Dion Phaneuf LAK3
- Adam Lowry WPG3
- Nikita Zadorov COL3
- Darnell Nurse EDM3
- Brady Tkachuk OTT3
- Erik Gudbranson VAN3
- Neal Pionk NYR3
- Matt Hendricks MIN3
- Kevan Miller BOS3
- Radko Gudas PHI3
- Ryan Reaves VGK3
- Ross Johnston NYI3
- Jamie Oleksiak PIT3
- Brandon Manning CHI3
- Radek Faksa DAL2
- Luke Schenn VAN2
- Drake Caggiula CHI2
- Miles Wood NJD2
- Nathan Bastian NJD2
- Anthony Cirelli TBL2
186 more players fought one to a few times each.
Teams that fight the most, 2018-19
| Team | Fights | GP | Per game | Per 82 | Fighters | Most vs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Bruins | 26 | 82 | 0.32 | 26.0 | 14 | SJS (4) |
| New York Rangers | 25 | 82 | 0.30 | 25.0 | 13 | NJD (4) |
| Ottawa Senators | 22 | 82 | 0.27 | 22.0 | 8 | DET (3) |
 Minnesota Wild | 19 | 82 | 0.23 | 19.0 | 9 | CGY (4) |
 Nashville Predators | 19 | 82 | 0.23 | 19.0 | 11 | STL (3) |
 Colorado Avalanche | 18 | 82 | 0.22 | 18.0 | 8 | DET (2) |
 Winnipeg Jets | 18 | 82 | 0.22 | 18.0 | 10 | BOS (2) |
 San Jose Sharks | 17 | 82 | 0.21 | 17.0 | 8 | BOS (4) |
 Florida Panthers | 16 | 82 | 0.20 | 16.0 | 7 | MTL (3) |
 New York Islanders | 16 | 82 | 0.20 | 16.0 | 8 | OTT (3) |
 Pittsburgh Penguins | 16 | 82 | 0.20 | 16.0 | 10 | TBL (3) |
 Washington Capitals | 16 | 82 | 0.20 | 16.0 | 9 | TBL (3) |
 Calgary Flames | 15 | 82 | 0.18 | 15.0 | 9 | MIN (4) |
 Detroit Red Wings | 15 | 82 | 0.18 | 15.0 | 10 | OTT (3) |
 Los Angeles Kings | 15 | 82 | 0.18 | 15.0 | 8 | BUF (2) |
 New Jersey Devils | 15 | 82 | 0.18 | 15.0 | 10 | NYR (4) |
 Tampa Bay Lightning | 15 | 82 | 0.18 | 15.0 | 8 | PIT (3) |
 Edmonton Oilers | 14 | 82 | 0.17 | 14.0 | 7 | CGY (2) |
 St. Louis Blues | 14 | 82 | 0.17 | 14.0 | 7 | NSH (3) |
 Montreal Canadiens | 13 | 82 | 0.16 | 13.0 | 11 | FLA (3) |
 Vancouver Canucks | 13 | 82 | 0.16 | 13.0 | 9 | ANA (2) |
 Buffalo Sabres | 12 | 82 | 0.15 | 12.0 | 8 | LAK (2) |
 Columbus Blue Jackets | 12 | 82 | 0.15 | 12.0 | 7 | MTL (2) |
 Dallas Stars | 12 | 82 | 0.15 | 12.0 | 9 | MIN (2) |
 Anaheim Ducks | 11 | 82 | 0.13 | 11.0 | 8 | VAN (2) |
 Chicago Blackhawks | 11 | 82 | 0.13 | 11.0 | 6 | NSH (2) |
 Philadelphia Flyers | 10 | 82 | 0.12 | 10.0 | 6 | BUF (2) |
 Carolina Hurricanes | 8 | 82 | 0.10 | 8.0 | 3 | ANA (1) |
 Arizona Coyotes | 7 | 82 | 0.09 | 7.0 | 5 | NYR (3) |
 Toronto Maple Leafs | 6 | 82 | 0.07 | 6.0 | 5 | BOS (3) |
 Vegas Golden Knights | 6 | 82 | 0.07 | 6.0 | 4 | OTT (2) |
A fight counts once for each team in it. Early in a season a single rivalry game can top this table: per-team rates are noise until teams have played a few dozen games.
Last fights of 2018-19
| Date | Fight | When | Game |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 15 | Alex Ovechkin WSH vs Andrei Svechnikov CAR | P1 10:59 · 0-1 · playoffs | WSH at CAR |
| Apr 14 | Ryan Reaves VGK vs Evander Kane SJS | P3 17:59 · 3-6 · playoffs | SJS at VGK |
| Apr 12 | Brayden Point TBL vs Zach Werenski CBJ | P1 15:11 · 2-0 · playoffs | CBJ at TBL |
| Apr 6 | Radek Faksa DAL vs Nick Seeler MIN | P2 9:11 · 0-0 | MIN at DAL |
| Apr 6 | Michael McLeod NJD vs Joshua Brown FLA | P3 9:17 · 3-1 | NJD at FLA |
| Apr 2 | Lawson Crouse ARI vs Kyle Clifford LAK | P1 5:53 · 0-0 | LAK at ARI |
| Apr 2 | Luke Schenn VAN vs Micheal Haley SJS | P1 1:52 · 0-1 | SJS at VAN |
| Apr 1 | Dustin Byfuglien WPG vs Drake Caggiula CHI | P3 19:47 · 3-3 | WPG at CHI |
| Apr 1 | Zack Smith OTT vs Cameron Gaunce TBL | P3 3:21 · 3-1 | TBL at OTT |
| Apr 1 | Blake Coleman NJD vs Lias Andersson NYR | P2 17:23 · 2-2 | NYR at NJD |
| Apr 1 | Brendan Lemieux NYR vs Miles Wood NJD | P2 16:43 · 2-2 | NYR at NJD |
| Apr 1 | Tony DeAngelo NYR vs Nathan Bastian NJD | P2 9:21 · 1-2 | NYR at NJD |
| Mar 31 | Luke Witkowski DET vs Noel Acciari BOS | P2 14:24 · 2-2 | BOS at DET |
| Mar 30 | Barclay Goodrow SJS vs William Carrier VGK | P2 3:01 · 1-1 | VGK at SJS |
| Mar 30 | Erik Cernak TBL vs Tom Wilson WSH | P3 12:13 · 4-2 | WSH at TBL |
| Mar 30 | Anthony Cirelli TBL vs Brooks Orpik WSH | P3 9:26 · 4-2 | WSH at TBL |
| Mar 26 | Zack Kassian EDM vs Kyle Clifford LAK | P3 15:43 · 4-7 | LAK at EDM |
| Mar 26 | Trevor Lewis LAK vs Kris Russell EDM | P3 10:07 · 4-7 | LAK at EDM |
| Mar 26 | Troy Brouwer FLA vs Christian Folin MTL | P2 7:29 · 0-4 | FLA at MTL |
| Mar 26 | Paul Byron MTL vs MacKenzie Weegar FLA | P1 2:24 · 0-0 | FLA at MTL |
Score is away-home when the fight started.
How we count NHL fights
A fight is a fighting major in the NHL play-by-play. Both players usually get one at the same moment, so the pair counts as one fight and each fighter is credited once. When only one player gets the major, the opponent comes from the penalty's "drawn by" field. Instigator minors at the same moment are noted. Boards use the regular season; the recent list includes the playoffs.
Fight totals are small numbers. A team's fights per game move a lot on one rivalry night or one call-up, and a player's count depends on how many games his coach dresses him. In 2018-19 the league had 226 regular-season fights in 1271 games (0.18 a game); in 2017-18 it was 0.22 a game, in 2025-26 0.23.
For fantasy leagues that count penalty minutes, a fighting major is five PIM, so the leaders here are the players who swing a PIM category. Fights are not a betting edge here: we hold no prices for the occasional "fight in game" props some books post, and per-team rates this small are mostly noise from game to game.
Frequently asked questions
Who has the most fights in the NHL in 2018-19?
Kyle Clifford had the most fights in the 2018-19 regular season, 6; Brendan Lemieux is next with 6.
Which NHL team fights the most in 2018-19?
BOS had 26 fights in 82 regular-season games (26.0 per 82 games), the most per game in the league in 2018-19.
How many fights are there per NHL game?
In 2018-19 there were 226 fights in 1271 regular-season games, or 0.18 a game. That compares with 0.22 a game in 2017-18 and 0.23 in 2025-26.
When do NHL fights happen?
Of the 226 regular-season fights in 2018-19, 32% came in the first period and 27% with one team ahead by three goals or more.