When the Penguins meet the Flyers, be it in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, the chances of a fight breaking out are quite higher than most other games. Toss in the level of frustration that Philadelphia has to be feeling, and that high chance becomes an inevitability. So, with little surprise, the game featured three fights, all within the first six minutes of the game.  We'll be taking a moment and checking out all three.

First up - the Noted One Mike Rupp taking on Arron Asham.

The two meet up and exchange pleasantries (and jabs) before Rupp begins going for Asham's helmet. Asham responds by grabbing for Rupp's jersey, but instead gets a handful of face. Rupp answers back with a nice shot, and gets the helmet off, with Asham slipping to the ice. Asham regains his footing and shifts Rupp off his balance, ending the fight. I could see this one being called a draw, but with the shot leading to the helmet removal, I'm thinking it's a win from Rupp. And I'm writing this, so that's how it will be.

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 Yeah, it sucks to lose a game, and it sucks worse when the one fight isn't a shining victory to help ease the pain a bit.  But this one is fast and furious, so hopefully it will be somewhat entertaining.

(kudos to hockeyfights.com)

What is there really to say on this one?  Bill Guerin drops his gloves as soon as the puck is dropped and goes after Tim Gleason.  After a shove, Gleason answers him and starts pounding away on Guerin's helmet.  Guerin gets a bit of leverage and lifts Gleason up, pounding away when he hits the ice.  Though the takedown was pretty, I have to give Gleason the win here for the onslaught of hits.  It's a hollow victory though, as his hand simply cannot be feeling good after hitting helmet so many times.  Ouch - just check out his knuckles when the camera zooms in.

I've heard a bit of whisperings that Guerin should have gotten an instigator call for this.  What do you think?

Up next will be the Habs, and old Penguins goon Big Georges Laraque is back from his suspension that kept him out last game.  Will we have a repeat of the craptastic 'fight' he and Eric Godard had last season?

Before I get started on this fight, let me take just one small moment to send a message to my dear brother Joe over at Mile High Hockey.

"Eat it, bro."

Alright, then.  Onto the the fight.

 
(Props to GhostWalker40 for the video.)

This one broke out between Craig Adams and Matt Hendrickspretty early in the second period straight out of a face off.  This is what one would call a 'slugfest' as the two traded blows back and forth with neither getting the edge on the other.  The end came when a blow from Adams caused Hendricks to slip a bit, allowing him to catch Adams' arm and after a missed blow, takes Adams to the ice.  I wouldn't really score that as a take down, as Hendricks really lucked into the position (by getting cracked) and thus I am calling this one a draw.  A pretty good draw, but a draw nonetheless.

I was hoping for another round between Eric Godard and David Koci(they fought twice last season), but Koci was a healthy scratch for the Avs.  Godard actually only has four fights this season, tying him with noted goal scorer Mike Rupp.  For a team that has 22 fights this season, that's a surprisingly low number.  This time last season, Godard had 8.

Next up is Chicago, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a fight to break out there.  The last time a Blackhawk fought a Penguin was on January 13, 2006 when Lyle Odelein dropped the gloves with Matt Barnaby.  For those of you who care, that was Odelein's last NHL fight.

You may call me lazy, but Hooks did a good job with the setup for this fight, so I'm just going to quote him.

Geno was unceremoniously dumped to the ice after the whistle by Bryan Allen.  You can't have that, good to see Rupp standing up for a star and fighting Allen.

So with that, (Noted Goal Scorer) Michael Rupp and Bryan Allen.

I could describe this fight blow for blow, but really, all you need to know is that after some exchanged shots, Allen tried to skate away and Rupp took the opportunity to punch him in the back of the head.  The shot sent Allen's head into the glass, knocking his helmet off.  Go ahead and watch it again.  You know you want to.

The board shot gives the win to Rupp.  How about that?

Next up is Montreal, where our old friend Big Georges Laraque skates.  If he does end up fighting with a Penguin, I hope it doesn't turn into the crapfest we got last season against Eric Godard.  I'm still bitter about that one.

There's not much good to say about the Pen's game last night, but I'll do my best to try to raise the sagging spirits of the Pensburgh crowd.  Would watching Eric Godard pound on Chris Neil make you feel better?  Dry those eyes and take a look.

The fight started with Neil doing the increasingly popular move of grabbing the jersey and jabbing with the same hand, but Godard quickly got Neil's hand away from his face and came out swinging.  Neil was switching hands, swinging with whatever he could get free, but Godard stayed dedicated to his right hand, and his right hand stayed dedicated to Neil's face.  After blows back and forth with both players stopped and looked as if they were going to await the linesmen.  Then Neil took the opportunity to take a cheap swing, and Godard answered with a direct shot to the face (or right in the button, if you're listening to the clip).  At this point, Neil's face started bleeding, but he kept at it.  The energy was sapped, though, and shortly the linesmen broke the two up.

What a bout from Godard.  Neil came out with some quick jabs, but Godard just pounded his face over and over again.  This is a solid win for Godard - just look at the blows he connected!  By the end of the bout, Neil's left cheek was swollen and bloody, but that can be expected when one gets repeatedly punched in the face.  Definitely a good fight - I just wish it had come in a better game.

Next up is Atlanta, who thus far have 9 fights this season (coincidentally, the same number Chris Neil has) - five of which coming from Eric Boulton.  You may recall a memorable bout last season in which Ruslan Fedotenko broke his hand on Colby Armstrong's face.  Let's hope any fights that we may see have similar results without the unfortunate effects.

(Thanks to GhostWalker40 for the video!)

Barely into the 3rd period, Bill Guerin got smacked from behind by Ryan Getzlaf, then again as he got back to the skates. Guerin and Getzlaf stayed near each other, and then the gloves came flying.

Getzlaf got some weak head shots in before Guerin caught him in a headlock, which pulled off his helmet. Getzlaf went for a shot that was blocked by Guerin, and then the two went down to the ice. I'm not quite sure if Getzlaf pulled Guerin or vice-versa, but it doesn't really matter. This one's a draw.

This is both Guerin and Getzlaf's first fight this season. Next up is Ottawa, who is tied for 4th in the NHL for fights, with 16. The Penguins are just behind them with 14, tied for 7th.

I'm a little behind, so we're going to hit this one fairly quickly. In the nail biter of Pittsburgh's game against the Bruins, it would be quite understandable to have forgotten that a fight broke out in the 1st period between Deryk Engelland and Byron Bitz - so let's look back.

This wasn't much to write home about, really. The two got a nice hold of each other's arms, with Engelland keeping Bitz from getting either arm up to swing. Engelland took a couple awkward shots at Bitz's back, then got a hold of Bitz's side and delivered some head shots while Bitz slid down to the ice. There's no way I could count this for Bitz, so Engelland gets the win.

As always, thanks to hockeyfights.com.

Halloween is an odd time of the year.  People dress up in all kinds of strange outfits, kids are encouraged to take candy from strangers, and Sidney Crosby gets himself into a fight.  Good for him.

After Crosby was knocked into the boards by Marek Zidlicky, he may have been feeling slightly irked.  Then when the puck came back around and Zidlicky was back up in Sid's grill, Sid decided to give Zidlicky a slash, and got one back for his efforts.  Finally, the tensions came to a head and the two went at it.

Well, more like Crosby went at it.  With helmets shaken off, Crosby started pounding on Zidlicky and pulled his jersey over his head, Kenny Wu style.  The linesmen were very, very quick to get into this melee and split the two up, and each man got 7 minutes - 5 minutes for fighting and 2 minutes for slashing.

And this brings up an issue I've never really thought about.  When someone like Eric Godard or Colton Orr drop the gloves, the linesmen let the two go at it until one either goes down or exhaustion forces them to stop.  However, when Crosby jumped in swinging, the linesmen were in almost immediately.  I honestly haven't gone looking to see if this is common for the 'star players' around the league, or this was an isolated thing, but there was definitely a different reaction here.

Up next for the Pens is the Anaheim Ducks, who had three fights against Phoenix last night.  Two of which came from James Wisniewski, who received an instigator and misconduct for his first fight, and still came back for a second.  In 82 fights last season, the Ducks only had one against the Pens - a win for Paul Bissonnette.

It's been a while since we've seen a Penguins fight, which I suppose may have been needed after the triple feature against Toronto on October 10.  So what has Eric Godard gotten himself...wait, Chris Kunitz?  Really?

Meeting up in the Florida goal, Ballard is all over Kunitz, and even manages to take get his helmet off.  The two exchange a few shoves before the gloves come flying off.  And then they take a nice little tour of the ice.  Okay, not really - but since their equipment was sitting near the goal, it was a little odd to see them skate off to the blue line.

Ballard connects with a jab and grabbing for the jersey, so Kunitz responds by bringing down the hammer to the back.  A bit of struggling, and Kunitz hits a low uppercut to the chin (that may or may not have hit pads) and connects with the back of Ballard's head, taking him down to a knee.  Ballard uses the momentum shift to swing Kunitz of his skates, and proceeds to hit while Kunitz is struggling back to his knees.  The linesmen are a little late getting in at this point, and separate the two.

I'm thinking Kunitz on this one.  He got the better blows in during the fight, and staggered Ballard, but Ballard used the opportunity to swing Kunitz off balance and hit him on the ice - which isn't cool at all.

This is Chris Kunitz's second fight as a Penguin, and his first during the regular season (the other coming in postseason against the Flyers - go figure).  He's not a regular fighter, but he definitely can hold his own when he goes.  You may remember Keith Ballard as the guy Sidney Crosby attacked last season.

Next up is Ottawa, who have had six fights in three games, half of which from Matt Carkner.