Watch: Fight between Capitals’ Wilson, Canadiens’ Anderson spills into bench

Hunter Crowther
Apr 25, 2025, 21:39 EDT
Watch: Fight between Capitals’ Wilson, Canadiens’ Anderson spills into bench

Hockey fans have waited for bad blood to be spilled in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and they saw that Friday night at the Bell Centre between the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals.

With the Jabs leading 3-2 the end of the second period of their Game 3 matchup, Canadiens’ defenseman Arber Xhekaj and Capitals’ forward Tom Wilson were involved in a scrum, with Montreal forward Josh Anderson coming in and engaging Wilson. The two eventually spilled on to the Washington bench, with punches being thrown on both sides.

The Capitals’ coaching staff was still on the bench as the two players entered, and the entire lineups for both the Canadiens and Capitals were on the ice, engaged in plenty of shoving and chirping as Anderson and Wilson were tangled up.

There were 28 minutes in penalties awarded between the two teams, with Anderson and Wilson getting 10-minute misconducts and two-minute roughing penalties. Xhekaj received a two-minute minor, as did Lars Eller.

The Capitals came into Friday’s game with a 2-0 series lead, winning Game 1 last Monday 3-2 in overtime, with Alex Ovechkin scoring the first playoff overtime-winning goal of his career. Washington followed it up with a 3-1 win on Wednesday, thanks to a two-goal effort by Connor McMichael.

The 31-year-old Wilson had 33 goals and 32 assists for 65 points and 100 penalty minutes this season with the Capitals, and has two assists in the first two games of the series. He helped Washington win its first Stanley Cup in franchise history in 2018.

As for Anderson, 30, he had 15 goals and 12 assists for 27 points and 90 penalty minutes this season. He has one assist in the two games from this series.

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