After Monday night’s dramatic 6-3 win over the New York Rangers in which Right Wing Tom Wilson found himself in the crosshairs of the National Hockey League and the Rangers themselves, there was little doubt that there would be fireworks between the two teams in Wednesday night’s rematch at Madison Square Garden. Sure enough, the two teams did not disappoint.
It took just one second for things to pick up, as on the opening draw, the Capitals’ fourth-line of Carl Hagelin, Nic Dowd, and Garnet Hathaway dropped the gloves with the Rangers’ Kevin Rooney, Colin Blackwell, and Phillip Di Giuseppe in a full-out line brawl.
Line brawl to start tonight’s game between the Rangers and Capitals at MSG pic.twitter.com/52pvvVZHwx
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) May 5, 2021
Less than a minute later, Rangers forward Brendan Smith went after Wilson, who answered the bell, crowding the Capitals’ and Rangers’ penalty boxes to the brim:
Tom Wilson steps onto the ice for the first time and is immediately met by
Brendan Smith. 👀 pic.twitter.com/dC8KqjvSXl— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 5, 2021
Just over three minutes later, new Capitals forward Michael Raffl dropped the gloves with New York’s Anthony Bitetto, followed by Lars Eller and and Ryan Strome off the faceoff just moments later.
#NYR Anthony Bitetto vs #ALLCAPS Michael Raffl
🎥 @NHLonNBCSports pic.twitter.com/KBoysddVmd— Here’s Your Replay ⬇️ (@HeresYourReplay) May 5, 2021
#NYR Ryan Strome vs #ALLCAPS Lars Eller
🎥 @NHLonNBCSports pic.twitter.com/Q4sZjINQPm— Here’s Your Replay ⬇️ (@HeresYourReplay) May 5, 2021
After the latest bout of fisticuffs, the referees gave both benches a warning to dial it down. In total, the teams combined for 72 penalty minutes (30 for the Capitals, 42 for the Rangers).
By Michael Fleetwood
That was never going to end well for the Rangers.