McCarty Assaults Lemieux, Roy helps out, March 1997
After a few mild-mannered meetings the following season, the two teams finally unleashed their built up anger towards one another. Almost an entire year after the Lemieux-Draper incident, a game in late March of 1997 will always be remembered as one of the major components that made this rivalry what it was.
A small quarrel between Peter Forsberg and Igor Larionov sparked a few more scrums around the ice. An assault by Darren McCarty on Claude Lemieux in hopes to seek revenge from the previous playoffs ensued. This resulted in in a full-on brawl, with the goaltenders even jumping into the mix.
Patrick Roy and Mike Vernon exchanging punches was certainly the story of the night, but on the particular evening it was official, the true rivalry was born.
