Morgan Rielly and Nicolas Deslauriers made Tuesday night's fights impossible for the NHL to ignore
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Bruce Raymond
Mar 18, 2026 (11:42)
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Photo credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Morgan Rielly and Nicolas Deslauriers gave Tuesday night real bite, and both fights cut through a slate that never fully turned wild.
The bigger headline came in Toronto. Morgan Rielly tangled with Kyle MacLean at 2:48 of the second period while the Maple Leafs were already chasing the game.
Take a look:
FOX Sports logged Rielly for a cross checking minor and a fighting major. MacLean got the matching fighting major in the Islanders' 3-1 win.
That is what gave the moment real lift. Rielly is a major Leafs name, so a fight from him lands harder than a random fourth-line scrap.
Toronto had already fallen behind 2-0 in the first period. That made the fight feel more like frustration boiling over than a clean momentum swing.
Fans can live with pushback. They get uneasy when the loudest response arrives after the game has already tilted away.
That is why Rielly versus MacLean became the clip with the most juice. It mixed star power, a home loss, and a team still searching for control.
Morgan Rielly and Nicolas Deslauriers gave Tuesday edge
The second fight had a different feel. Nicolas Deslauriers and Mathieu Olivier dropped the gloves at 10:22 of the second in Columbus' 5-1 win over Carolina.
This one was old-school from the jump. No extra theater, no larger team drama, just two heavy forwards settling it the hard way.
That still carries value on a busy NHL page. Olivier even added a third-period goal, which gave his night extra weight in a game Columbus controlled.
Deslauriers versus Olivier did not have Toronto's spotlight. It had a different pull, the pure hockey-code energy that still grabs attention when it is done honestly.
Put together, the two fights told separate stories. Rielly's was about pressure and emotion, while Deslauriers and Olivier gave viewers the clean heavyweight version.
That is enough for one night. Not a league-wide eruption, just two scraps that actually mattered for different reasons.
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