However, on March 8, 2004, during another rematch between the Avalanche and Canucks, things went differently. In the first period, Moore fought Vancouver player Matt Cooke in a fairly even brawl, and served the 5-minute penalty for fighting. The Avalanche would go on to build up a large lead of 8–2 in a fight-filled game. Shortly before the midway mark of the third period, Todd Bertuzzi was sent onto the ice. After failing to instigate Moore to fight, Bertuzzi skated after Moore, pulled him back by the jersey and punched him in the back of the head. As Moore fell unconscious to the ice, Bertuzzi's weight and momentum drove Moore's head into the ice. Moore's teammate Andrei Nikolishin and Bertuzzi's teammate Sean Pronger then piled on to Moore and Bertuzzi. Moore was knocked out and lay motionless for ten minutes before being carried off on a stretcher. The combination of the hit, fall, and piling-on had resulted in three fractured neck vertebrae, facial cuts and a concussion.