San Jose v Colorado Fight

Both of Marleau's goals came after Sharks defenseman Brad Stuart delivered a huge hit on Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog. As Landeskog left the ice, Avalanche defenseman Ryan O'Byrne confronted Stuart, igniting a long, nasty fight. O'Byrne, the instigator, earned 19 penalty minutes, including a 10-minute misconduct. Landeskog, who appeared to take a shoulder to the head, limped toward the dressing room and missed the rest of the first period before returning for the second.

"I thought it was a hard hit. I haven't seen it but I think it was a clean hit or felt like a clean hit," Landeskog said. "It was hard, that much I could tell you. I was reaching for the puck and didn't brace myself enough, Stuart stepped up and that's the way hockey always is. It was a big one. I knew he was there, but I didn't think he was coming at me. Then he came and I saw him at the last second but not nearly early enough. I felt fine. I was a little weak at first but I was able to take care of it after getting some ice in here [dressing room]. I felt fine after that. Hats off to O'Byrne, that's what teamwork is all about. He knows I have his back if it should happen to him."

Stuart wasn't penalized for the hit, and he said he doesn't expect to receive any supplemental discipline from the League.

"I fully expected him to pick his head up but he didn’t," Stuart said. "At that point he’s pretty vulnerable. I tried to make a good, solid hit. I’m not trying to hurt anyone or anything. When a guy doesn’t see you coming it’s going to look pretty bad. You hit the captain, a young kid, you have to expect somebody’s coming. I have no problem with that. That happens and then that’s it. It’s over and done with the rest of the game which is fine with me. I have no problem with that."

Avalanche coach Joe Sacco had a different view of Stuart's hit.

"The hit, looked like it was a direct blow to the head," Sacco said. "It looked like he targeted the head. It looked like it was the first point of contact was on the head. We end up four minutes short where I thought we should be on the power play for a minute. We just didn't get the call. Our PK wasn't good enough. You have a situation where a teammate is defending another teammate, which is the game of hockey, and in those situations we need to step up and get the job done for our teammate. We just didn't get it done. That was the difference in the game."

Stuart's hit seemed to jump-start the Sharks.

"That's one of the biggest hits I've seen," Irwin said. "It was great. It was loud. It got the fans going, and I think that's what we needed because we were a little slow out of the gate. A big hit like that can really turn the momentum."

Thornton said Stuart's hit might have been the "loudest" he's ever heard in the NHL.

"It kind of takes your breath away because you’re like, 'I hope this kid’s OK,' but wow that was hard. It was a great hit. You just hope he’s OK. It was nice to see him come back for the second period. It was just, 'Welcome back to San Jose Brad Stuart.' It was one of the best I’d ever seen."