Stop us if you've heard this one before: Things on the ice got awfully physical between the Dallas Stars and the Colorado Avalanche.
Tuesday's matchup between the rival sides didn't take very long at all to turn chippy, with a scrap between Radek Faksa and Colorado's Fedor Svechkov in the first period needing to be broken up by the game's officials before each party was delved a major penalty.
But it was in the second period when things really turned ugly, with a star from each side — Roope Hintz for Dallas and Nathan MacKinnon for Colorado — dropping the gloves and throwing haymakers.
Whoa! Roope Hintz busts up Nathan MacKinnon as things between the Stars and the Avs boil over. 🫢 Lot of history with this one. (Via @espn | #TexasHockey) https://t.co/wvLO2FFHTp
— SportsDay Stars (@dmn_stars) October 14, 2026
If the resulting damage is any indicator, this bout would go to Hintz after MacKinnon left the scrap with a heavily bleeding nose and had to leave the ice and return to the locker room for maintenance. Both parties eventually returned to the ice.
The brawl might've been building for a while: It was MacKinnon with whom Hintz got tangled up during a game last season, resulting in a hamstring injury for Hintz that ended his season. MacKinnon also forced Hintz out of the 2024 playoffs after delivering a cross-check in a second-round series.
It's just the latest chapter in one of the NHL's best divisional rivalries between the Stars and the Avs.
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Sign up for the Morning Roundup, a free newsletter delivering the latest North Texas news each morning.This article originally published at Watch: Roope Hintz bloodies Nathan MacKinnon as Stars-Avalanche rivalry comes to blows.