Dylan McIlrath made his physical presence felt in the first period against the Vegas Golden Knights, Tuesday.
Making his season debut for the Capitals, McIlrath leveled Jonas Rondbjerg with a huge shoulder-to-shoulder hit as the Golden Knights forward turned to the center of the ice.
McIlrath was, of course, immediately challenged to fight seconds later, but won the bout with Keegan Kolesar emphatically.
It was a throwback physical play reminiscent of Scott Stevens.
#ALLCAPS Mcllrath fights Kolesar pic.twitter.com/hJAxYoyMRh
— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) November 15, 2023
McIlrath landed six consecutive rights — most of which were absorbed by Kolesar’s helmet — before taking a counter jab from the Golden Knights forward. McIlrath, perturbed, then threw a huge shot that connected to Kolesar’s face, crumpling him to the ice for a TKO.
As Kolesar sat in the penalty box, he acknowledged his loss to Alex Ovechkin who skated over to say hi.
#ALLCAPS Kolesar and Ovi also talking after the fight pic.twitter.com/9tcv0nhmfx
— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) November 15, 2023
Monumental Sports Network cameras showed Kolesar afterward in the penalty box talking to Alex Ovechkin who was circling near him. Kolesar acknowleged McIlrath’s toughness, filling his cheeks and mouthing Whew to the Capitals captain. “He’s strong!” he appears to say (if I’m mouth-reading right).
Once they were done their chat, Kolesar turnde to McIlrath appearing to tell the Hershey Bears’ captain he caught him with that right punch.
It’s nice to see everyone okay after all that violence and such respect shown. This is one of those plays that reminds you how fun hockey can be.
Keep up the hits pic.twitter.com/eYaeUtKVgJ
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 15, 2023
The fight for McIlrath is his third this season. In Hershey, McIlrath fought the Providence Bruins’ Vincent Arseneau on October 21 and won that spirited tilt as well.
He also dropped his gloves in the preseason for the Capitals, taking on the Blue Jackets’ Mathieu Olivier on October 5.
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
