The Montreal Canadiens got on the board in their first-round series with the Washington Capitals on Friday night, winning 6-3 to cut the deficit to 2-1 in this Eastern Conference quarterfinal. But, it didn't come without controversy.
At the end of the second period, a fight broke out. But it didn't stay on the ice. Tom Wilson and Josh Anderson eyed each other up and got into a scrap on the bench. It was crazy scenes. Both players got two-minute penalties for roughing and 10-minute misconducts.
On Saturday, NHL Player Safety also punished them. Both Wilson and Anderson were fined $5,000 apiece for unsportsmanlike conduct for their involvement in the Game 3 brawl.
The second period had already ended when Wilson and Anderson began fighting in front of the Capitals' bench before it continued onto where the rest of Washington's players were sitting. Of course, Canadiens players came in as well, and it turned into a full-on brouhaha. Playoff hockey at its finest.
The Canadiens and Wilson had already been exchanging verbal blows even before the game, and things boiled over. He also made a crybaby face at Montreal after the scrap.
WE HAVE FIGHTS ON THE BENCH ???? pic.twitter.com/bq9FEKbpqU
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 26, 2025
It was also the first playoff game at the Bell Centre since 2017. Juraj Slafovsky summed up the action perfectly, from the energy of the fans to the physical 60 minutes:
“I’ve never experienced something like that,” he said. “Today the crowd was amazing. I hope we can bring more and more playoff games to this building and win some games.
“We knew it was going to be physical. We also knew we just had to control our emotions through 60 minutes. Sometimes it’s hard, we have guys who want to fight — I don’t want to say something bad — so we just had to control our emotions and focus on our game.”
Wilson and Anderson thankfully didn't receive suspensions and will be able to play in Game 4.