Colorado Avalanche–Detroit Red Wings brawl

While not a specific retaliation, earlier, in Game 3 of the series, Avalanche defender Adam Foote had been hit from behind into the glass by Slava Kozlov, resulting in injuries leading to 20 stitches.

After the traditional handshakes that take place after a playoff series, former Red Wings winger Dino Ciccarelli said of Lemieux, "I can't believe I shook this guy's friggin' hand after the game; that pisses me right off.

"[3] In the next regular season, although the two teams had played each other three times without serious incident, this fourth meeting on the night of March 26 was different, with nine fights in the game.

[4] As tensions mounted early in the first period, defencemen and enforcer Brent Severyn (Avalanche) and Jamie Pushor (Red Wings) fought at 4:45 of the first period, followed by a fight between forwards Kirk Maltby (Red Wings) and Rene Corbet (Avalanche) at 10:14 where Maltby dropped Corbet.

While the fight between Roy and Vernon wound down, McCarty dragged Lemieux's body to where Draper was standing on the Red Wings bench.

Incidentally, it was McCarty who scored the winner against Roy 39 seconds into overtime, assisted by Shanahan and Larionov.

Red Wings broadcaster Ken Kal surmised that the game was a turning point as far as the team's success went.

A similar free-for-all between the teams took place on May 22,[7] during game four of the Western Conference finals at Joe Louis Arena, when during a penalty-filled game, Crawford was seen screaming obscenities at Red Wings head coach Scotty Bowman across the glass separating the two benches.

[9] The next season during a game on November 11, 1997, between the two teams, McCarty and Lemieux began to throw punches seconds after the opening faceoff, much to the delight of the Joe Louis Arena crowd.

On March 26, 2022, 25 years after this brawl, McCarty and Lemieux met again at a local bar in Michigan to rewatch this game.