After several run-ins earlier in the month, Tom Wilson and Erik Cernak fought with 7:47 remaining in the Capitals’ 6-3 win Saturday night.
The spirited bout ended when Wilson landed a right cross to Cernak’s mouth, dropping the enforcer to the ice holding his face.
Sunday, social media appears to have figured out what happened to Cernak. Wilson apparently knocked out one of Cernak’s front teeth.
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On Sunday, an unofficial Erik Cernak Facebook fan page shared a photo of Cernak with a missing tooth. Screenshots of that image, which we believe to be real, and a caption, which we do not believe to be from Cernak, were shared on Twitter.
Cermak held his own going against Wilson but that was no slip pic.twitter.com/Qrip5W1bjR
— kenneth howell (@tampaken) March 31, 2019
The Facebook page is run by a fan of Cernak’s in Slovakia. Around the time RMNB reached out for clarification, the fan deleted the Facebook listing with the photo and posted another with an edited comment. He later deleted the update about the fight entirely.
RMNB can confirm that Cernak had all his top front teeth during the fight as evidenced by this screenshot.
Similar to the Facebook photo, Cernak also sported the same cut and swelling show on his right cheek during the Lightning’s Jersey Off Our Back ceremony that occurred after the game.
Cernak also had his front top teeth in a March 18 NHL.com interview.
If Cernak losing a tooth is true, it’s another example of Tom Wilson’s punching power during fights. Wilson knocked out Jamie Oleksiak in a December fight against the Penguins. He also broke the orbital bone of Ian Cole after the Avalanche defenseman leveled Evgeny Kuznetsov with a headshot in February.
Tom Wilson has blood on his right hand. I asked him if it was his or Erik Cernak’s: “A little bit of both.”#ALLCAPS
— Chris Kuc (@ChrisKuc) March 31, 2019
Tom Wilson on his fight with Erik Cernak: "I asked him a couple of times and he said that he would and then we kind of got separated. You never want to see a guy go down but he stood up for himself. It’s a time of year when emotions get high and that stuff can happen."#ALLCAPS
— Chris Kuc (@ChrisKuc) March 31, 2019
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