Tom Wilson and Matt Rempe have yet to fight each other, but they came close on Wednesday night.
The two enforcers had a heated conversation during the second period of the Washington Capitals’ 3-2 overtime win over the New York Rangers. Eventually the two were seperated and Brandon Duhaime and Sam Carrick dropped the gloves with each other and exchanged face-punches.
Wilson, who scored the Capitals’ OTGWG, was asked after the game by the TNT in-studio crew why his animated chat with Rempe was necessary.
A little more context behind the Tom Wilson-Matt Rempe summit from Wednesday evening 🍿 pic.twitter.com/7I8FWSLPwL
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 6, 2025
“Yeah, he bumped into O (Alex Ovechkin) a couple times,” Wilson said. “I just told him, ‘Anybody else, but him.’ I don’t like it when guys are bumping into O. He can handle himself, he’s an absolute machine, but I like Rempe’s game. He’s come in, he’s worked really hard. He’s made a lot of noise. He’s a big fella. We’re gonna bump into each other a few more times down the road here.”
Per the NHL’s play-by-play tracking of the game, Rempe threw two hits on Alex Ovechkin during the same second-period shift (the first at 12:15 and the second at 12:34) before being scolded by Wilson at the next whistle (12:54).
“He was yelling at me, ‘Don’t hit Ovi! Don’t do that to Ovi! Don’t hit Ovi!’” Rempe told the New York Post on Thursday. “I told him I’d hit anyone I want.”
This is not the first angry run-in between the two pugilists. Rempe had the chance to fight Wilson in the past, but turned down the opportunity in last year’s playoff series between the two teams. Wilson, much more valuable to the Capitals on the ice than in the box, insinuated then that the oft-bench-warmer may never get another shot at fisticuffs with him.
“I felt like in that moment I wanted to do that. He didn’t want to do it,” Wilson said. “He obviously didn’t want the momentum in the game to change. They were winning at the time, I think. I don’t know, maybe that’ll be his one chance. We’ll see.”
Rempe threw another controversial high hit in New York’s game against the Nashville Predators earlier in the week, leading to his 27th career pro fight. Wilson’s showdown with Brady Tkachuk on Monday was just his third fight of the year.
Wilson’s desire to protect Ovechkin from any rough stuff has likely ramped up after the Capitals captain’s leg was broken in a collision with Utah’s Jack McBain in November. Wilson forced McBain to answer for the borderline reckless play, fighting him later in the game.
Outside of policing the ice at Madison Square Garden, Wilson also showed off his offensive game, sinking the Rangers in overtime with his 28th goal of the year. Wilson is now on pace for a career-best 65-point (37g, 28a) season.
