List of NHL rivalries

Rivalries have arisen among NHL teams for many different reasons, the primary ones including geographic proximity, familiarity with opponents, on-ice incidents, and cultural, linguistic, or national pride.

From 1942 to 1967, only six teams (the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leafs) played in the NHL.

The rivalry has since been renewed from the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs which saw the Bruins rally from a 4–1 third period deficit to defeat the Maple Leafs in overtime, 5–4, and advance to the second round.

The rivalry heightened to a fever pitch due to an incident in the 1950 playoffs when Detroit's young star, Gordie Howe, mistimed a check on Toronto's Ted Kennedy and fell head-first into the boards, suffering severe injuries and needing emergency surgery to save his life.

The Lightning eventually gained the upper hand, making it to five Eastern Conference finals in the 2010s, while the Panthers fell to the bottom of the Atlantic; for much of this decade, the rivalry was considered dormant by sportswriters.

Prior to that, Montreal and Ottawa teams played in various amateur leagues from 1884 and competed for the Stanley Cup from the first season it was awarded in 1894.

Published in 1979, it recalls an incident from his boyhood in 1946, Sainte-Justine, Quebec, as a childhood Canadiens fan whose mother mistakenly buys him a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater to wear in his neighbourhood hockey games.

Travel between both arenas is easily accomplished by road (usually through the Lincoln Tunnel), rapid transit (on the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) train) and rail (along the Northeast Corridor).

[31] Games between the two teams at Madison Square Garden and Wells Fargo Center are often very intense, hard-hitting affairs, as each home crowd does its best to create an unfriendly, sometimes volatile atmosphere for any visiting-team fans.

The most memorable of those confrontations came in the 1992 Patrick Division finals, in which the Penguins upset the Presidents' Trophy-winning Rangers in six games en route to winning the second of their back-to-back Stanley Cups.

Both teams, led by Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh), Ryan Callahan, Chris Kreider, and Henrik Lundqvist (New York Rangers) respectively, after their 2008 playoff meeting, they met in three consecutive postseason series from 2014 to 2016.

In the 2000s, the rivalry was reignited by the rebirth of the Alexander Ovechkin-led Capitals, whom the Flyers eliminated in the 2008 Eastern Conference quarterfinals in overtime on a power play goal by Joffrey Lupul in the seventh game, and avoid squandering a 3–1 series advantage like in 1988.

The two teams faced off at the 2011 NHL Winter Classic hosted in Pittsburgh at Heinz Field, with the Capitals emerging victorious 3–1, and a hit in the game resulted in Crosby missing nearly all of two seasons with concussion-related issues.

The Penguins shut out the Capitals at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. to advance to the Eastern Conference finals and eventually the franchise's fifth Stanley Cup.

The Washington Capitals defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games to advance to the Eastern Conference finals, and eventually win the Stanley Cup.

Both teams quickly became fierce divisional opponents with frequent playoff matchups occurring, in addition to the notorious trade of Wayne Gretzky and Marty McSorley.

At the time, the Kings and Seals were the only two NHL teams located west of the Mississippi River (the St. Louis Blues and the Minnesota North Stars were located on that river), and thus were created for each other to both reduce the amount of travel each team would need to do and to gain a foothold on the West Coast, previously the province of the borderline-major Western Hockey League, of which the Seals had been a member.

Given the chance to become just the fourth team in NHL history to complete the unlikeliest of comebacks, the Kings won 5–1 in San Jose to win the series en route to their second Stanley Cup.

In doing so, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter became the first NHL players to complete the comeback twice, both being part of the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers team that came back from 3–0 down to the Boston Bruins.

One of the more recent rivalries to grow in the division, the Golden Knights joined the league as an expansion team prior to the 2017–18 NHL season.

[53] The Kings in 2020 and 2023 traded longtime fan-favorite players Alec Martinez and goaltender Jonathan Quick respectively to Vegas, and both became pivotal pieces in the team's 2023 Stanley Cup Victory.

[62] San Jose scored four goals in 4:01 on the ensuing power play to take the lead late, but with 47.0 seconds left, the Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault tied it up to send the game into overtime.

[66] The Battle of Quebec extended to politics, in which the Canadiens and Nordiques became symbols for rival parties, and beer distribution, as the teams were both owned by competing breweries.

In 1987, the Jets upset the Flames in six games in the opening round in what would turn out to be their final playoff series victory for the franchise until 2012, when they were known as the Phoenix Coyotes.

The two teams met in the playoffs for the first time in the 1982 Campbell Conference Finals, which is best remembered for a mock surrender by then-Canucks coach Roger Neilson over what he deemed questionable officiating in game two, which began the Towel Power tradition in Vancouver and elsewhere in sports.

[81] The rivalry has died down since then due to the subsequent decline of the Canucks in the 2010s following their appearance in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, as well as a lack of playoff matches between the two teams.

Draper went to the hospital with a concussion and multiple broken bones in his face as a result, and he required surgery and stitches; he did not return to play until much later in the following season.

This incident led to a series of on-ice confrontations during an Avalanche-Red Wings game on March 26, 1997, including a massive brawl near the end of the first period which featured Red Wings enforcer Darren McCarty (another member of the "Grind Line" and Draper's best friend) brutally beating up Lemieux as revenge for the incident with Draper, as well as a vicious goaltender fight between Patrick Roy and Mike Vernon.

[86] The rivalry died down in the post-lockout era as the Blues entered a slump, only reviving as the teams fought for the Central Division title in the 2011–12 season.

Owner Red Dutton was so furious at Madison Square Garden for not reinstating his team that he swore the Rangers would never win another Stanley Cup during his lifetime.