While everyone knew Game 3 was a do-or-die one for the Montreal Canadiens, no one expected the chaos that unfolded. One of the announcers put it best. “Control has been lost here in Montreal,” said the announcer. What started as heated banter between Washington Capitals star Tom Wilson and Canadiens’ Josh Anderson devolved into a team-wide brawl. Wilson and Anderson even took the fight to the Capitals’ bench. Thankfully, a linesman followed.

Yet, how did that happen, you ask? Well, the two rivals got into it as the two teams stepped onto the ice at the beginning of the third period. Tensions boiled over as Wilson and Anderson started throwing hands with the Capitals trailing 3-2 after the second period. Fortunately, the linemen were right in the mix and immediately jumped into action. One linesman immediately put himself between the two rivals, while others scrambled before everything got out of hand.

“I think the linesman were in between us, so there wasn’t much said to be honest,” Josh Anderson recalled after the game. Had it not been for the official, things could’ve ended badly as the Washington Capitals and Canadiens players swung for the fences. The only reason none of the punches landed was because of the referee’s quick thinking. Considering how hard the NHL/NHLPA has come down on players who let their emotions get the better of them, it’s safe to say the ref did them a huge favor.

The fact that Anderson needed to keep his emotions in check didn’t escape the NHL winger, either. “You’ve got to be careful with your motions, not to get too high, not to get too low,” added the Canadiens star during the locker room interview. It’s also not surprising that Anderson and Wilson started the brawl. The two are old rivals who have never really shied away from dropping the gloves.

In fact, you don’t even have to go too far back to see the two players throwing hands. Just rewind to Game 2 of the play-offs between the Canadiens and the Capitals, Wilson and Anderson scrapped after the Washington Capitals winger landed a hit on Kaiden Guhle. Josh Anderson stood up for his teammate, taking on Wilson and managing to take him down. So it’s safe to say the hockey rivals have some bad blood. Yet, it’s best they don’t try something like this in the future.

The Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens could’ve suffered the same fate as Brandon Hagel

Talking about the NHL/NHLPA coming down hard on players committing infractions, the Washington Capitals and the Habs had the perfect example. That example was none other than Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel. While things didn’t devolve into a brawl, Hagel landed a massive hit on Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov in Game 2.

The Lightning star expressed his frustration after losing the first game 6-2, and then trailing 2-0 in game 2 with 10 mins on the clock. Unfortunately, Hagel was a bit too rough in expressing his frustration. The NHL player slammed shoulder-first into the unsuspecting Panthers captain when he was nowhere near the puck. The hit sent Barkov flying into the boards.

The refs immediately called a stop to the action and even sent Hagel to the bench for five minutes. “I was a little surprised it was a (major)…” said Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper. However, the NHL/NHLPA wasn’t done with Brandon Hagel. The league scheduled a phone call hearing regarding the hit shortly after the game. In a stark example of what could happen to the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens players, they suspended Hagel.

The NHL said that the Lightning star “still intentionally delivers an extremely forceful body check to an unsuspecting opponent,” while handing him a one-game ban. The fact that it was an off-puck hit played a big role in their decision. Who knows? Maybe the NHL would’ve been even more strict with the Habs and Caps had the lineman not stepped in immediately.