If the Washington Capitals or Carolina Hurricanes want to win the Stanley Cup this season, they’ll likely have to go through each other in the playoffs. This may partially explain why their game against each other on Wednesday night went off the rails in the third period, as the two teams combined for 8 misconducts and 122 penalty minutes in the final stanza alone.
The Capitals, playing in their second game in as many nights, were overwhelmed by the Hurricanes’ speed and tenacity early, falling behind 4-1.
“I don’t know what they’re playing for anymore, first overall?” Carolina head coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “That’s probably why we caught them at the start.”
But the Capitals found more fight when Tom Wilson had a run-in with Sebastian Aho with 8:21 remaining in the game.
As Wilson attempted to land a huge body check in neutral ice, Aho side-stepped and spun through the hit, striking the Capitals forward in his surgically-repaired left knee with the follow-through of his stick. Wilson tore the ACL in the same knee late in the 2021-22 season.
Wilson crumpled to the ice, writhing in pain, and struggled to make his way to the Capitals bench. Once he got there, Dylan McIlrath and Connor McMichael engaged Aho on the ice as the whistle blew — the Hurricanes telecast was adamant Aho was challenged to a fight — while Dylan Strome grabbed Seth Jarvis. As the melee dissipated and Aho made his way back to the bench, a furious Wilson stood up and began screaming at him.
According to watchers of the TNT telecast, and presumably reported by Brian Boucher, who was between the two benches, Wilson asked Aho, among other things, “Who’s going to protect you?”
Meanwhile, Pyotr Kochetkov, the Canes’ backup goaltender on the night, could be seen trying to contain his laughter as the chaos happened beside him.
“There were a few just dangerous plays that start to get — you can feel the temperature raising,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said.
The Hurricanes got a power play out of the ordeal, with officials giving Strome two minor penalties – one for slashing and the other for roughing – while Jarvis got called for roughing.
During the Capitals’ penalty kill, 1:19 later, the two teams got into it again behind the net as Wilson and Trevor van Riemsdyk shoved Hurricanes defenseman Sean Walker to the ice after he went for a loose puck that goaltender Charlie Lindgren was covering. Logan Stankoven hit Wilson from behind, igniting another melee.
While trying to be held back by an official, Wilson did a swim move past linesman James Tobias to get back at Stankoven, throwing a punch and putting him in a body lock. Wilson received a double minor for roughing, while Stankoven only got a single minor. Quickly losing control of the game, officials gave out matching 10-minute misconducts to Wilson and Stankoven, effectively tossing both from the game.
“Obviously, I’m a smaller guy, and I’m not looking to start anything up, but I’m going to stand my ground and stand up for my teammates,” Stankoven said via Walt Ruff.
This did not settle things down, though, as 1:28 later, the two teams had another fracas at center ice, with the main event being a fight between childhood friends Tyson Jost and Brandon Duhaime.
Officials handed out four 10-minute misconducts to Duhaime, Jost, Nic Dowd, and Mark Jankowski. Jankowski and Dowd got matching minors for roughing, but the Hurricanes’ center got an extra minor for cross-checking Dowd.
All of the penalties left each team with only 9 players available on their benches.
“I think in a game like this there’s frustration and then the guys go unpunished for dirty plays, dirty slashings, refs a bit overwhelmed and miss some key things that happened and the frustration takes over,” Pierre-Luc Dubois said. “You know, it’s an emotional sport and like I said when guys don’t get punished by the referees that, I don’t know, maybe didn’t see anything then you know frustration takes over and that happens.”
The chaos finally concluded when Connor McMichael fought Jalen Chatfield with 5:22 remaining. While no meaningful punches were thrown, Chatfield used a bush-league judo toss to slam a helmet-less McMichael to the ice in a dangerous fashion.
McMichael and Chatfield were both given five-minute majors for fighting and 10-minute misconducts, while the Capitals forward received an extra minor penalty for roughing.
While social media was in an uproar about Chatfield’s slam, hockey insiders reported on Thursday morning that Chatfield would not be suspended for the play. But he certainly could face the Capitals’ ire when the two teams rematch next week at Capital One Arena on April 10.
“We’re not going to go quietly in the night,” Carbery said. “If we feel as a group, and our guys feel like someone or something happens on the ice that crosses the line, they’re going to handle it.”
In total, the Capitals and Hurricanes combined for 142 penalty minutes, which included four fighting majors.
The two rival teams are the first and second-place teams in the Metropolitan Division. While they could still flip those spots, the geographical rivals are destined for a collision course in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs — that is, if both teams can take care of business in the first round.
