NHL Fights 2019-20
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.
Nicolas Deslauriers (ANA) leads NHL players with 14 fights in the 2019-20 regular season, 7 more than Austin Watson (NSH).
Most fights, 2019-20
Nicolas DeslauriersANA14last Mar 6
Austin WatsonNSH7last Feb 13
Kyle CliffordTOR6last Mar 6
Ross JohnstonNYI6last Feb 15
Brendan SmithNYR5last Mar 10
Barclay GoodrowTBL5last Mar 7
Anaheim Ducks0.3525 in 71 GP
New York Rangers0.3021 in 70 GP
Boston Bruins0.2920 in 70 GP
When fights happen
Of 194 regular-season fights in 2019-20, 76 came in period 1, 77 came in period 2, 41 came in period 3. 17 started in the first five minutes of a game, often a scheduled bout off the opening faceoff; 45 came with one team ahead by three or more goals and 54 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, 2019-20
| # | Player | Fights | Inst. | Opponents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nicolas DeslauriersANA | 14 | – | Kyle Clifford, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Zac Rinaldo, Kurtis MacDermid +9 |
| 2 | Austin WatsonNSH | 7 | – | Matt Martin, Tyler Myers, Nicolas Deslauriers, Evander Kane +3 |
| 3 | Kyle CliffordTOR | 6 | – | Nicolas Deslauriers, Joel Edmundson, Jamie Oleksiak, Jarred Tinordi +2 |
| 4 | Ross JohnstonNYI | 6 | – | Ryan Reaves, Garnet Hathaway, Micheal Haley, Luke Witkowski +2 |
| 5 | Brendan SmithNYR | 5 | – | Jamie Benn, Matt Martin, Kurtis MacDermid, Charlie McAvoy +1 |
| 6 | Barclay GoodrowTBL | 5 | – | Chris Wagner, Milan Lucic, Justin Abdelkader, Brandon Manning +1 |
| 7 |  Patrick MaroonTBL | 5 | – | Zdeno Chara, Andreas Englund, Dale Weise, Micheal Haley |
| 8 |  Tom WilsonWSH | 5 | – | Robert Hagg, Nate Thompson, David Savard, Zdeno Chara +1 |
| 9 |  Garnet HathawayWSH | 5 | – | Anthony Bitetto, Ross Johnston, Erik Gudbranson, Derek Grant +1 |
| 10 |  Kurtis MacDermidLAK | 5 | – | Milan Lucic, Nicolas Deslauriers, Brendan Smith |
| 11 |  Matt CalvertCOL | 5 | – | Luke Kunin, Jamie Benn, Zack Kassian, Victor Hedman +1 |
| 12 |  Brendan LemieuxNYR | 5 | – | William Carrier, Tom Wilson, Ryan McDonagh, Mark Borowiecki +1 |
| 13 |  Zdeno CharaBOS | 4 | – | Patrick Maroon, Yakov Trenin, Tom Wilson |
| 14 |  Brenden DillonWSH | 4 | – | Ryan Hartman, Nick Foligno, Casey Cizikas, Nicolas Deslauriers |
| 15 |  Brady TkachukOTT | 4 | – | Brendan Gallagher, Blake Wheeler, P.K. Subban, Casey Cizikas |
| 16 |  Matthew TkachukCGY | 4 | – | Jeremy Lauzon, J.T. Miller, Ethan Bear, Zack Kassian |
| 17 |  John HaydenNJD | 4 | 2 | Jake Middleton, Dale Weise, Andreas Englund, Dennis Gilbert |
| 18 |  Milan LucicCGY | 4 | 1 | Kurtis MacDermid, Barclay Goodrow, Nikita Zadorov |
| 19 |  Micheal HaleyNYR | 4 | – | Ross Johnston, Nicolas Deslauriers, Austin Watson, Patrick Maroon |
| 20 |  Dennis GilbertCHI | 4 | 1 | John Hayden, Gabriel Landeskog, Jason Demers, Wayne Simmonds |
Regular season. 222 players have fought.
More fighters, 2019-20
- Austin Wagner LAK3
- Adam Lowry WPG3
- Lawson Crouse ARI3
- Chris Wagner BOS3
- Anders Lee NYI3
- Yanni Gourde TBL3
- MacKenzie Weegar FLA3
- Jean-Gabriel Pageau NYI3
- Joshua Brown FLA3
- Ryan Reaves VGK3
- Jamie Oleksiak DAL3
- Luke Kunin MIN3
- Nathan Beaulieu WPG3
- Casey Cizikas NYI3
- Zack Kassian EDM3
- Erik Gudbranson ANA3
- Evander Kane SJS3
- Nick Foligno CBJ3
- Nazem Kadri COL3
- Chris Stewart PHI3
- Jamie Benn DAL2
- Drake Caggiula CHI2
- Jordan Greenway MIN2
- Ryan Getzlaf ANA2
- Ryan Dzingel CAR2
- Mikhail Sergachev TBL2
- Riley Stillman FLA2
- Nate Thompson PHI2
- Robert Hagg PHI2
- Ryan Hartman MIN2
- Zack MacEwen VAN2
- Bobby Ryan OTT2
- Kasperi Kapanen TOR2
- Anthony Bitetto WPG2
- Jacob Trouba NYR2
- Joel Edmundson CAR2
- Andreas Athanasiou DET2
- Brayden Schenn STL2
- Jarred Tinordi NSH2
- Jujhar Khaira EDM2
162 more players fought one to a few times each.
Teams that fight the most, 2019-20
| Team | Fights | GP | Per game | Per 82 | Fighters | Most vs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anaheim Ducks | 25 | 71 | 0.35 | 28.9 | 7 | SJS (3) |
| New York Rangers | 21 | 70 | 0.30 | 24.6 | 9 | NYI (3) |
| Boston Bruins | 20 | 70 | 0.29 | 23.4 | 14 | TBL (4) |
 Ottawa Senators | 20 | 71 | 0.28 | 23.1 | 12 | TBL (3) |
 New York Islanders | 17 | 68 | 0.25 | 20.5 | 7 | NYR (3) |
 Washington Capitals | 17 | 69 | 0.25 | 20.2 | 8 | ANA (3) |
 Tampa Bay Lightning | 17 | 70 | 0.24 | 19.9 | 10 | BOS (4) |
 New Jersey Devils | 15 | 69 | 0.22 | 17.8 | 9 | CHI (2) |
 Nashville Predators | 15 | 69 | 0.22 | 17.8 | 8 | STL (3) |
 Calgary Flames | 15 | 70 | 0.21 | 17.6 | 8 | EDM (5) |
 Colorado Avalanche | 15 | 70 | 0.21 | 17.6 | 8 | CHI (3) |
 Winnipeg Jets | 15 | 71 | 0.21 | 17.3 | 9 | BOS (3) |
 San Jose Sharks | 14 | 70 | 0.20 | 16.4 | 7 | ANA (3) |
 Vancouver Canucks | 13 | 69 | 0.19 | 15.4 | 12 | CHI (2) |
 Los Angeles Kings | 13 | 70 | 0.19 | 15.2 | 5 | CGY (3) |
 Florida Panthers | 12 | 69 | 0.17 | 14.3 | 7 | EDM (2) |
 Chicago Blackhawks | 12 | 70 | 0.17 | 14.1 | 8 | COL (3) |
 Edmonton Oilers | 12 | 71 | 0.17 | 13.9 | 8 | CGY (5) |
 Minnesota Wild | 11 | 69 | 0.16 | 13.1 | 6 | ANA (2) |
 Philadelphia Flyers | 11 | 69 | 0.16 | 13.1 | 7 | WSH (3) |
 Montreal Canadiens | 10 | 71 | 0.14 | 11.5 | 9 | NJD (2) |
 Vegas Golden Knights | 10 | 71 | 0.14 | 11.5 | 7 | NSH (2) |
 Dallas Stars | 8 | 69 | 0.12 | 9.5 | 5 | ANA (1) |
 Toronto Maple Leafs | 8 | 70 | 0.11 | 9.4 | 5 | ANA (1) |
 Detroit Red Wings | 8 | 71 | 0.11 | 9.2 | 6 | BOS (2) |
 Pittsburgh Penguins | 7 | 69 | 0.10 | 8.3 | 6 | ANA (1) |
 Columbus Blue Jackets | 7 | 70 | 0.10 | 8.2 | 5 | WSH (2) |
 St. Louis Blues | 7 | 71 | 0.10 | 8.1 | 6 | NSH (3) |
 Carolina Hurricanes | 6 | 68 | 0.09 | 7.2 | 4 | OTT (2) |
 Arizona Coyotes | 4 | 70 | 0.06 | 4.7 | 2 | CHI (1) |
 Buffalo Sabres | 3 | 69 | 0.04 | 3.6 | 3 | BOS (1) |
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 2019-20
| Date | Fight | When | Game |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 11 | Matt Martin NYI vs Barclay Goodrow TBL | P3 19:32 · 3-5 · playoffs | TBL at NYI |
| Sep 9 | Matt Martin NYI vs Luke Schenn TBL | P2 3:36 · 1-1 · playoffs | NYI at TBL |
| Sep 5 | Jean-Gabriel Pageau NYI vs Scott Laughton PHI | P3 5:19 · 3-0 · playoffs | NYI at PHI |
| Aug 29 | Barclay Goodrow TBL vs Nick Ritchie BOS | P3 4:01 · 3-0 · playoffs | TBL at BOS |
| Aug 26 | Torey Krug BOS vs Tyler Johnson TBL | P2 15:23 · 5-1 · playoffs | TBL at BOS |
| Aug 14 | Zack MacEwen VAN vs Zachary Sanford STL | P2 17:30 · 2-0 · playoffs | VAN at STL |
| Aug 12 | Anders Lee NYI vs Tom Wilson WSH | P1 17:13 · 0-0 · playoffs | NYI at WSH |
| Aug 11 | Corey Perry DAL vs Matthew Tkachuk CGY | P1 11:15 · 1-0 · playoffs | CGY at DAL |
| Aug 7 | Jake Virtanen VAN vs Ryan Hartman MIN | P1 1:36 · 0-0 · playoffs | VAN at MIN |
| Aug 7 | Jason Spezza TOR vs Dean Kukan CBJ | P2 13:52 · 0-2 · playoffs | TOR at CBJ |
| Aug 6 | Nathan Beaulieu WPG vs Milan Lucic CGY | P1 0:02 · 0-0 · playoffs | CGY at WPG |
| Aug 5 | Blake Coleman TBL vs Torey Krug BOS | P1 17:07 · 2-0 · playoffs | TBL at BOS |
| Aug 3 | T.J. Oshie WSH vs Yanni Gourde TBL | P2 14:38 · 0-2 · playoffs | WSH at TBL |
| Aug 2 | Marcus Foligno MIN vs Micheal Ferland VAN | P1 1:19 · 0-0 · playoffs | MIN at VAN |
| Aug 1 | Blake Wheeler WPG vs Matthew Tkachuk CGY | P1 8:20 · 0-0 · playoffs | WPG at CGY |
| Aug 1 | Ryan Strome NYR vs Justin Williams CAR | P1 2:48 · 0-1 · playoffs | NYR at CAR |
| Mar 11 | Colin White OTT vs Austin Wagner LAK | P1 18:08 · 1-1 | OTT at LAK |
| Mar 10 | Jamie Benn DAL vs Brendan Smith NYR | P2 11:20 · 3-0 | NYR at DAL |
| Mar 9 | Adam Lowry WPG vs Lawson Crouse ARI | P1 2:07 · 0-0 | ARI at WPG |
| Mar 8 | Jordan Greenway MIN vs Ryan Getzlaf ANA | P1 15:54 · 2-1 | MIN at ANA |
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 2019-20 the league had 194 regular-season fights in 1082 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 2019-20?
Nicolas Deslauriers had the most fights in the 2019-20 regular season, 14; Austin Watson is next with 7.
Which NHL team fights the most in 2019-20?
ANA had 25 fights in 71 regular-season games (28.9 per 82 games), the most per game in the league in 2019-20.
How many fights are there per NHL game?
In 2019-20 there were 194 fights in 1082 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 194 regular-season fights in 2019-20, 39% came in the first period and 23% with one team ahead by three goals or more.