Fans of the New York Rangers were transported back to the 1970’s as there was nothing but fisticuffs after the opening faceoff. Three Rangers fought their counterparts on the Capitals as soon as the game started.
The puck drops and the gloves come OFF! 🥊
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 5, 2021
What a start for the Rangers and Capitals. pic.twitter.com/KvhUtPw52p
As soon as they were all in the penalty box, there were three more fights. It set an NHL record.
Capitals vs Rangers
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) May 5, 2021
1st regular-season game in NHL history to feature 6 fights within the first 5 minutes of the game#ALLCAPS#NYR
The bravest Ranger has to be Brendan Smith who took on Tom Wilson, one of the fiercest fighters in the NHL and the reason for all of this nonsense.
Tom Wilson steps onto the ice for the first time and is immediately met by
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 5, 2021
Brendan Smith. 👀 pic.twitter.com/dC8KqjvSXl
Smith spoke about seeking out Wilson “I had no beef with anybody else on their team. I thought it should have been handled before this game and it wasn’t. Unfortunately, it had to be kind of on my shoulders and I thought I took it.”
The Rangers ended up with 85 minutes in penalties, nowhere near the team record of 134 minutes set in a 1988 slugfest against the Penguins. It was the most penalties for one team in an NHL game in seven years.
There were six misconducts handed out including a game misconduct to Pavel Buchnevich for a vicious crosscheck on Anthony Mantha in the second period. In the ultimate irony, Buchnevich will probably end up with a suspension for the stick check.
Besides his fight with Brendan Smith, Tom Wilson was given a 10 minute misconduct late in the first period and never returned, reported out with what Capitals coach Peter Laviolette called “an upper body injury.” Wilson might have hurt his hand in the fight, but he was certainly able to play and it was clear that the Caps sat him down rather than risk a night filled with chippy play and the potential for injury.
At least if the NHL wouldn’t suspend him, Laviolette did the next best thing and took him off the ice.
Kudos to Brendan Smith, Kevin Rooney, Phil de Giuseppe, Colin Blackwell, Tony Bitetto and Ryan Strome for dropping their gloves and trying to prove to the rest of the league that they won’t let anyone attack their teammates.
After the game coach David Quinn said he had no idea about what was coming and Ryan Strome said that the players had collectively decided what steps to take to prove that they were willing to fight for a teammate.
Did it accomplish anything? It’s hard to say, but there has to be respect around the league that the Rangers players were willing to take action on their own after the league failed in its responsibility to do the same.