NHL rivalries keep the game intense and exciting and are often tied to hockey history and tradition. During the 2025–2026 season, there were multiple occasions in which rivalries grew even stronger, with players knowing there was still unfinished business.
Some were violent spectacles, while others were extremely intense outings, or even a crucial game between two juggernaut teams that could decide the fate of their respective seasons.
With that here are some memorable rivalry moments from this past season.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS VS. MONTREAL CANADIENS
Just like most campaigns, including the coming 2026-27 season, the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs opened their 2025-26 campaign against one another. That first game, on Oct. 8, ended as a 5-2 victory for the Maple Leafs, which set the table for their next matchup, which was a little more ugly.
Later in the season, on Nov. 22, tension grew dramatically in a spectacle at the Bell Centre. It was Florian Xhekaj's NHL debut for the Canadiens, and he experienced it with his older brother, Arber, in the lineup with him.
With the Xhekaj brothers known to impose their physicality, it's no surprise that they were both involved in a couple of altercations against longtime rival the Maple Leafs.
Florian Xhekaj opened his NHL account with a fight with Leafs defenseman Dakota Mermis in the latter stages of the third period. The animosity is apparent in any Toronto and Montreal clash, but in this case, it carried right through the buzzer, when Arber Xhekaj and Dakota Joshua got tangled up behind the Habs net.
Eventually, Jayden Struble and Steven Lorentz would also get involved, resulting in all four of those players getting 10-minute game misconducts.
FLORIDA PANTHERS VS. TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
The penalty box was a common destination in the Sunshine State, as this rivalry boiled over throughout this past season. The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning rivalry could arguably be considered the best in the NHL currently, given how much the two teams clearly hate each other.
In December alone, the two teams combined for 172 penalty minutes across two meetings. Their matchup on Dec. 27 was particularly loud, as there were 27 roughing penalties called, a fight between Curtis Douglas and Luke Kunin, and five 10-minute misconducts.
That wasn't the last of it, as the final meeting between the Floridan clubs was the messiest. Their Feb. 5 matchup ended with 167 penalty minutes, five fighting majors called, and four players receiving game misconducts.
EDMONTON OILERS VS. CALGARY FLAMES
The Battle of Alberta took another dramatic turn as the Calgary Flames claimed the season series against the Edmonton Oilers, winning three of the four meetings to earn the provincial bragging rights.
On Oct. 8 of this past year, in the first matchup of the season between the two, the Oilers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, highlighted by Leon Draisaitl scoring his 400th career NHL goal. The Flames later responded with three unanswered goals, and rookie Matvei Gridin scored his first NHL goal during the comeback, eventually winning in an eight-round shootout.
This collapse from the Oilers was a sign of what was to come for an"average team," as Connor McDavid put it after they were eliminated from the first round of the playoffs by the Anaheim Ducks. Not only was it a stinging loss to a team that would go on to finish 29th, but it also spoiled Draisaitl's milestone moment.
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