The second consecutive NHL regular season game in which the New York Rangers hosted the Washington Capitals was marked by numerous fights and deletions.
The hosts of the ice decided not to leave unpunished the act of the attacker of the guests Tom Wilson, who had rudely acted against the Russians Pavel Buchnevich and Artemiy Panarin in the previous meeting, and began to act from the very first seconds after the starting throw-in.
Before the puck had time to fall on the ice, three fights began at once.
All six attackers participating in the throw-in threw their clubs and began to sort things out with their fists.
The referees barely managed to calm the heated hockey players, after which, predictably, sanctions followed: Nick Dowd, Karl Hagelin, Gareth Hatway from the Capitals and Kevin Rooney, Colin Blackwell and Philip de Giuseppe from the Rangers received five penalty minutes.
Given the circumstances of yesterday's match between these rivals, the confrontation could not end there, because the goal of the New Yorkers was Wilson, who deprived them of Panarin, and thereby complicating the task of reaching the playoffs. The Canadian appeared on the ice 40 seconds after the start of the match and was almost immediately attacked by Brendan Smith. The hockey players exchanged blows for almost a minute, until the referees again intervened in the fight. The Washington forward escaped with minor injuries to his fingers and received a five-minute penalty, while the defender was assigned a five-minute penalty and a 2 + 10 penalty.
“You saw what happened in the previous game.
I would not like to talk about this, this topic has been exhausted.
I think that situation should have been dealt with before the game.
Unfortunately, this did not happen.
Therefore, the responsibility fell on my shoulders, and I did what I had to, ”explained Smith.
For three and a half minutes, calm reigned at the rink, but one could not count on a peaceful continuation of the meeting.
Michael Raffl, Lars Eller, Anthony Bitetto and Ryan Stroom took part in another less spectacular fight.
As a result, a kind of record was set: for the first time in the history of the NHL, the starting five minutes of the match were marked by six fights.
Until the end of the period, the players earned several more minor penalties, and Kevin Rooney and Tom Wilson received 10 minutes for unsportsmanlike behavior, as a result, in the first period, the hockey players of both teams earned 100 penalty minutes, and after the next episode they simply no longer had enough space on the bench.
Despite this, the Rangers players were clearly pleased with themselves and even found a reason to laugh at their opponents.
Kevin Rooney really did this to Tom Wilson.
😂 pic.twitter.com/JACrzUXDcZ
- Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 6, 2021
As for the Canadian striker himself, after a fight with Smith, he went out on the ice several times.
However, in the second period, the Capitals coaching staff decided not to release him again, arguing that Wilson suffered an upper body injury.
The rest of the match went without serious clashes, with the exception of a scuffle between Buchnevich and the guests' forward Anthony Manta.
The Canadian provoked the Russian, to which he responded with a blow to the face with a club.
Leggings flew onto the ice again, the confrontation risked developing into a massive one, but the hockey players ended up on opposite sides of the rink in time.
Commenting on what happened in the match, Rangers head coach David Quinn did not blame his charges.
On the contrary, he praised them for the solidarity they displayed in difficult conditions.
“I think such situations speak better than any words about how these guys are ready to play and fight for each other in difficult circumstances.
We all saw what happened that evening.
Nobody is happy about that.
But I am very proud of my guys, "Quinn is quoted by ESPN.
In turn, Strowm noted that his teammates were disappointed with the incident involving Wilson, and therefore decided to rebuff the opponent.
“I believe we have given an appropriate response to the situation in which our star player has allowed ourselves to be treated in this way.
I'm proud of the guys.
This says a lot about them, "- quotes the words of Strohm the official website of the NHL.
Fuel was added to the fire by the decision of the Department of Safety of Hockey Players to appoint Wilson only a monetary fine of $ 5 thousand for hitting Buchnevich on the ice.
Rough actions against Panarin, which could turn into a tragedy, went unpunished.
That is why many have supported New Yorkers, despite their unsportsmanlike behavior.
“The challenge was accepted. The Rangers, lacking big boys and security, have rallied in the return leg against the Capitals to protect both their fallen star, who was retired from the incident with a lower-body injury before the end of the season, and themselves. In the first second, there was a wall-to-wall fight, in which Kevin Rooney fought Dowd, Blackwell fought Hagelin, and Di Giuseppe fought Hathaway. It was a triple aperitif before serving the main course, Smith's cold vengeance appetizer, "wrote columnist Larry Brooks.
The injured Panarin was left to support his team virtually.
After the match ended in a 4-2 victory for the Capitals, he posted the Rangers logo on his Instagram page.
It is worth noting that due to this defeat, the New York team lost their chances of reaching the playoffs.
View this post on Instagram
Publication from Artemiy Panarin (@artemiypanarin)
Interestingly, Wilson's behavior was criticized not only by experts and fans, but also by former hockey players who were famous for their tough play.
So, one of the best tough guys in the history of the NHL, Georges Larak, on the eve of the second match, offered his services to Quinn's team.
“Hey Rangers, sign me a one-game contract for tonight and I'll deal with Wilson,” Larak joked.