As NHL punch ups go this one is very short and very decisive.
It didn’t take very long for New York Islander Matt Martin and New Jersey Devil Tom Kostopoulos to decide to drop gloves and go for it. It was still longer than the fight though and we suspect that Kostopoulos regrets stepping in to tackle Martin after the Islander levelled one of his team-mates.
After a brief grapple, and at least one decent dig landed by Kostopoulos, Martin knocked him out with a vicious right hand flush on the chin.
In fairness to Martin, he calls for help immediately after knocking Kostopoulos down as he knows he is hurt.
Kostopoulos left the game and was described afterwards coach Pete DeBoer said, “I think he’s going to be all right.”