Fighting

Fighting is another major way that injuries happen.  Fighting is often caused when a player skates into the opposing team's goalie, whether on purpose or not, and teams do not like their goalie being skated into.  Some altercations are not classified as fights, as defined by the Official National Hockey League Rules, "A fight shall be deemed to have occurred when at least one player (or goalkeeper) punches or attempts to punch an opponent repeatedly or when two players wrestle in such a manner as to make it difficult for the Linesmen to intervene and separate the combatants." Most fights are allowed to continue until one player is brought to the ground, and the other deemed "victorious".  A big rivalry game, like the game in the picture Philadelphia Flyers vs Pittsburg Penguins in the 2012 Playoffs, there are often many fights throughout the span of the series.  The aggressor is the player who continues to throw punches to a player even though the opposing player is in a defenseless position or unwilling to fight.   If a player is classified as the instigator and the aggressor, he receives a 2 minute minor penalty, a 5 minute major penalty for fighting, (instigator) and a game misconduct penalty (aggressor).  Any player who fights automatically receives a 5 minute major penalty.