Wilson, 5 other Caps get in fights vs. Rangers in first period originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Expectedly, it didn't take long for the gloves to drop on Wednesday night.
As soon as the puck was dropped to begin the first period between the Capitals and Rangers, three separate Washington players -- Garnet Hathaway, Nicholas Dowd and Carl Hagelin -- all dropped their gloves and engaged in fights with a trio of Rangers players: Kevin Rooney, Colin Blackwell and Phillip Di Giuseppe. All six players were given five-minute major penalties.
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That was just the beginning.
When Tom Wilson first came onto the ice for the Capitals, 50 seconds into the opening period, he was immediately confronted by Brendan Smith to drop the gloves. After the scrap was finished, with Wilson the decisive winner, he was given a five-minute major. Smith, who instigated the fight, was given a 10-minute misconduct penalty.
The flurry of fights to begin the first period of Wednesday's game is New York's way of retaliating to Wilson sucker-punching Artemi Panarin in Monday's clash. On Tuesday, the Rangers put out an overly harsh statement calling Wilson's punch a "horrific act of violence."
Wilson's fight wasn't the last of the period, either.
Just a couple of minutes later, newly acquired winger Michael Raffl fought Anthony Bitetto and both were sent to the penalty box. Then, immediately after the next faceoff, Lars Eller and Ryan Strome dropped the gloves.
In total, there were six different fights in the first four minutes and 14 seconds of Wednesday's game.
