MONTREAL — For two games and two periods, the Stanley Cup playoff series between the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals was controlled chaos.
As the second period of Friday’s Game 3 ended, “control” went out the window, and a scrum between several players from both teams spilled into the benches.
Washington’s coaching staff was inches away from the action. Linesman Kyle Flemington, at one point, was nearly toppled over the bench by Washington’s Tom Wilson and Montreal’s Josh Anderson, who were the principal antagonists in the whole ordeal but not the only players involved.
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Wilson and Anderson are of a type: big, physical, speedy wingers with a penchant for toeing the line and, at times, crossing it. They’d been circling each other at times during Games 1 and 2. Wilson was captured by TV cameras mocking the Canadiens by pretending to cry.
Both received 10-minute misconducts and roughing minors. Each team also had one other player — Lars Eller for Washington, Arber Xhekaj for Montreal — take a two-minute minor. Xhekaj, a physical defenseman who didn’t play in Games 1 or 2, was seen mixing it up with the Caps ahead of Game 3.
Arber Xhekaj and Tom Wilson exchange some words 🫢 pic.twitter.com/72G0UxODXD
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 25, 2025
Nine seconds before the incident, Montreal had taken a 3-2 lead on a goal by Cole Caufield. The Canadiens won 6-3 and trail Washington in the series, 2-1.
(Photo: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)
