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Tom Wilson given misconduct, 14 minutes in penalties, after starting line brawl with Rangers

By Ian Oland

 41 Comments

May 3, 2021 9:21 pm

The Washington Capitals and New York Rangers got in a line brawl in the second period after Vitek Vanecek went to the splits to make a goal-line stop on Pavel Buchnevich during a Caps penalty kill.

As the play was whistled dead, Tom Wilson punched Buchnevich in the side of the head as the Rangers’ forward laid defenseless and face down on the ice.

Things deteriorated from there.

Video

Buchnevich drew Wilson’s ire after trying to bang home the rebound — even kicking towards Vanecek’s pad. After he fell to the ice, Wilson punched the Russian forward in the side of the head. This infuriated the Rangers and the two teams came together in an angry scrum. Rangers superstar Artemi Panarin jumped on Wilson’s back to get him off Buchnevich. As the two wrestled, Wilson rag-dolled Panarin and slammed him to the ice.

Vanecek even got involved trying to pull the Rangers off his teammates.

Wilson was given 14 minutes in penalty minutes in total: a 10-minute misconduct and a four-minute double-minor for roughing. Joining him in the Capitals’ penalty box was Brenden Dillon (two-minute minor for roughing). Panarin (2 minutes) and Buchnevich (2 minutes) also got two-minute minors for roughing.

But Wilson wasn’t done. Once he got to the penalty box, he taunted someone on the Rangers. Flexing his muscles, Wilson stood up and waddled over to the penalty box glass acting like he was a goofy tough guy.

Panarin ended up leaving the game after the melee due to a lower-body injury.

The Capitals went on to win 6-3. Wilson scored a goal, tallied an assist, and earned a misconduct, which I’m going to nickname a Tom Wilson hat trick.

RMNB Coverage of Caps at Rangers

Screenshot courtesy of NBC Sports Washington

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