Ryan Leonard showed his hockey toughness in the most rough-and-tumble game of his career.
Shortly after taking a big hit from Adam Fantilli late in the first period and leaving the ice for concussion protocol, the 20-year-old forward returned undaunted at the start of the second stanza and got in his first NHL fight with Sean Kuraly.
Leonard, seemingly being targeted by the Blue Jackets physically, returned cross-checks with Kuraly before tossing his mitts to the ice and throwing hands.
Leonard landed several jabs before Kuraly answered with several rights, including a blow to the side of the head that sent Leonard tumbling to the ice.
Both players received matching minors for cross-checking and five minutes each for fighting at 11:53 of the second period. While the bout was Leonard’s first, Kuraly, a noted tough guy, has now dropped the gloves eight times in his career.
The Capitals did not appreciate how the Blue Jackets treated their young star. One minute and 55 seconds later, Rasmus Sandin dropped the gloves for the fourth time of his career with Blue Jackets forward James van Riemsdyk (in front of his brother Trevor van Riemsdyk, a defenseman on the Capitals).
Sandin threw several punches before falling over.
Tom Wilson, who received a 10-minute misconduct earlier in the game, then had a long discussion with Mathieu Olivier. Nothing came of the chat though, and things settled down as the two teams eventually went into the second intermission with Columbus leading 6-0.
