Philadelphia Flyers

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The brawl erupted with 1:45 left in regulation when Flyers enforcer Donald Brashear hit Senators enforcer Chris Neil from behind, sparking a fight. As Brashear was escorted off, he exchanged blows with Brian Pothier and Todd Simpson, while goaltenders Robert Esche and Patrick Lalime fought at center ice. On the next face-off, Chris Neil and Radovan Somik scrapped, and Zdeno Chara started a fight with Mattias Timander. Flyers GM Bob Clarke was furious, saying, "I understand Chris Neil fighting Donald Brashear. That's okay. [...] But don't go after guys who don't know how to defend themselves like Somik and Timander." After the game, Clarke tried to enter the Senators' dressing room to confront coach Jacques Martin but was restrained. The final fight came between Jason Spezza and Patrick Sharp; Spezza led all players with 35 penalty minutes, while Brashear had 34.

In Their Own Story

The game itself was secondary to the brawl. Philadelphia won 5–3, with goals from Claude Lapointe, Mark Recchi, Danny Markov, Kim Johnsson, and Alexei Zhamnov. But the third period saw 409 penalty minutes assessed—another NHL record. After the seventh fight, the crowd booed when a face-off didn't immediately produce violence, then cheered as Mark Recchi hit Wade Redden, sparking fights between Recchi and Bryan Smolinski and between John LeClair and Redden. The officials needed 90 minutes after the game to sort out all the penalties. The brawl directly led to a new NHL rule for the 2005–06 season: anyone instigating a fight in the final five minutes would receive a one-game suspension.

Reader's Guide

The roots of the brawl trace to the teams' playoff history: the Senators eliminated the Flyers in 2002 and 2003, and Philadelphia had not beaten Ottawa in their previous five regular-season games (0–2–3). The immediate trigger was Havlat's slash on Recchi on February 24, 2004, which earned Havlat a five-minute major, a game misconduct, and a two-game suspension. As a repeat offender (he had been suspended earlier for kicking Eric Cairns), Havlat forfeited $36,585.36 of his salary. Recchi warned after that game, "It might not come from our team. But he better protect himself." The brawl game itself saw only one player fined or suspended: Flyers defenseman Danny Markov got a statutory one-game ban for his third game misconduct of the season.

Did You Know?

• The 419 penalty minutes in the March 5, 2004 game broke the previous NHL record of 406 set in a 1981 game between the Boston Bruins and Minnesota North Stars.
• Philadelphia's 213 penalty minutes in that game was not a single-team NHL record; the actual record is 209, set by the Flyers themselves in a later game.
• The 409 penalty minutes assessed in the third period alone was also an NHL record.
• Flyers enforcer Donald Brashear started the brawl by hitting Chris Neil from behind, later explaining, 'Did you see the last game?'—a reference to Martin Havlat's slash on Mark Recchi.
• The brawl directly led to an NHL rule change for the 2005–06 season: any player instigating a fight in the final five minutes would receive a one-game suspension.