DALLAS — Nathan MacKinnon has spent 14 NHL seasons terrifying goalies. On Tuesday night, he picked a different kind of fight — and took the worst of it. The Colorado Avalanche superstar, the league’s reigning Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy winner, dropped the gloves with Dallas Stars centre Roope Hintz midway through the second period, and Hintz left him bloodied.
It started the way these things always do: MacKinnon delivered cross-checks in the Avalanche zone, Hintz took a swipe back, and the gloves came off. Hintz landed three hard rights, including one square on MacKinnon’s nose, according to reports. The Colorado forward skated off covered in blood and spent time in the locker room getting stitched up. He returned to finish with two assists — because that is what Nathan MacKinnon does — and the Avalanche held on for a 3-2 win, per the Daily Faceoff report.
A rivalry with real history
This was no random scrap. Back on March 2 in Dallas, the two centres got tangled in the corner, and Hintz suffered a season-ending hamstring injury. Hintz, who had never fought in the NHL before Tuesday night, picked quite the opponent for his first one. The bad blood is real, and with the teams meeting again Wednesday night at Ball Arena in Denver, nobody expects the tension to cool. It is a week for hockey storylines on this site, from Montreal special teams warning to October baseball drama.
The new MacKinnon plays with an edge
Here is the strange part: this was MacKinnon’s second fighting major in two weeks. In the season opener against the Los Angeles Kings, he squared up with Brandt Clarke. For a player who has rarely fought across a high-scoring career — 425 goals, 729 assists in 956 regular-season games, a Stanley Cup in 2022, plus Hart and Rocket Richard trophies — the sudden pugnacity is a subplot all its own. Martin Necas scored twice and Mackenzie Blackwood made 24 saves as Colorado, playing short-handed up front, banked two points.
MacKinnon kept it simple after the game: “Two guys playing hard. A couple slashes and we fought,” he said, adding that Hintz “definitely got me with a couple good punches too.” The 3-2 loss stings Dallas, but the rematch is hours away — and the whole league will be watching what happens the next time these two centres end up in the same corner.
