Photo: Chris O’Meara
Skating in his second game of the season on Saturday, Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson looked to make an impact in any way he could. That included getting in his first fight of the season with Lightning defenseman Radko Gudas after Eric Fehr crashed into Lightning goalie Ben Bishop. Gudas skated towards Fehr, and Wilson was having none of that.
They dropped the gloves. Boys will be boys. Willy Baby unleashed one vicious punch that connected early in the fight. Gudas, who doesn’t wear a face shield (this is important for later), then skated off the ice and went to the locker room.
When Gudas came back to the Lightning bench, he was wearing a full cage.
@russianmachine did @tom_wilso break Gudas' jaw in that fight? He wasn't wearing a cage before it. #Caps #CapsBolts
— . (@CapsFan941) November 2, 2014
Good question. I looked back on the action and this is what I figured out.
After watching the fight, I’ve concluded that it was the last punch here that was the one that damaged Gudas the most.
Tampa Bay’s feed showed Gudas bleeding from the bridge of his nose.
It also showed Gudas’s nose red on the right side of his face.
Wilson was bleeding from his finger.
In the third period, CSN cut to Jay Beagle and Gudas getting into it. Gudas was wearing the full cage.
After the game, I looked through Twitter and I think I found what happened. Talking to the media, Bishop said Gudas likely has a broken nose.
#tblightning Bishop said he couldn't say enough about Gudas sticking up for him. "Probably broke his nose. That means a lot"
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) November 2, 2014
So there you go. Wilson didn’t break Gudas’ jaw. He broke his nose.
