Pittsburgh Penguins–New York Islanders brawl

The game itself featured two separate multi-player brawls, one of which occurred after Pittsburgh's Eric Tangradi took an elbow to the head, which caused a concussion.

In the first period of that contest, Penguins forward Maxime Talbot delivered a "questionable but unpenalized" body check to the Islanders' Blake Comeau.

With just 16.5 seconds left in regulation, Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro shoved Penguins forward Matt Cooke as he skated through the crease.

The Islanders started the physical play early in the game, as Micheal Haley was assessed a roughing penalty at the 2:37 mark in the first period.

[7] After the sixth goal, Johnson was pulled and as he skated to the tunnel where the back-up goaltender sits, he was showered with boos from the crowd, largely due to the ramifications of his prior fight with DiPietro.

In his first NHL fight, the Islanders' Josh Bailey squared off with Pascal Dupuis, while the Penguins' Mike Rupp tangled with Travis Hamonic, while Martin fought with Deryk Engelland.

[10] While that situation was unfolding, other incidents were occurring on the ice — Haley fought Talbot and, while that fight was being broken up, Johnson skated from his crease towards his blue line.

The fight occurred with just 2:47 remaining in the game, but it would not be the last penalty handed out, as just 15 seconds later, Ryan Craig was given both a cross-checking minor and a ten-minute misconduct.

Only 12 players from both teams combined did not receive any penalties: Marc-Andre Fleury (who was actually the backup goalie in the game as part of a scheduled day off), Alex Goligoski, Nick Johnson, Paul Martin and Jordan Staal of Pittsburgh; and Bruno Gervais, Michael Grabner, Milan Jurcina, Mikko Koskinen, Radek Martinek, Matt Moulson and P. A. Parenteau of New York.

[12] Notably, Penguins star Sidney Crosby was not involved in the game nor the brawl, due to having suffered a season-ending concussion over one month prior in the 2011 NHL Winter Classic.

New York's Trevor Gillies received a nine-game suspension and Matt Martin was given four games for his actions, which NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell described as "deliberate attempts to injure."

Pittsburgh's Eric Godard was given an automatic ten-game suspension for violating League rules prohibiting players from leaving the bench to join a fight.

Lemieux released a statement on the issue, saying, "The NHL had a chance to send a clear and strong message that those kinds of actions are unacceptable and embarrassing to the sport.

"[14] An alternate view was expressed by Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Brian Burke, who noted that he felt the NHL acted "swiftly, harshly and appropriately.

"[11] Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic agreed with Burke, stating that the NHL took a stand against line brawls and intent to injure opponents.