How a Hurricanes win, brawl with Capitals overshadowed Ovechkin’s ‘Gr8 Chase’ in Raleigh
A day after the game, it still can cause heads to shake.
The Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals played a late-season Metropolitan Division game Wednesday at Lenovo Center. Caps star Alex Ovechkin scored career goal No. 892 as he closes in on Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record of 894.
The Canes won, 5-1. The Caps remained in first place in the Metro, the Hurricanes in second. The biggest games, in the Stanley Cup playoffs, begin later in the month. Both teams know that.
So why did the final game summary look like some kind of hockey rap sheet?
In the third period, referees assessed eight 10-minute misconduct penalties. There were four fighting majors. There were eight roughing penalties. In total: 122 minutes in penalties.
What in the name of Gary Bettman was going on?
Caps coach Spencer Carbery indicated that with the Canes’ big lead in the third, his players sensed there were a few “dangerous plays” being generally overlooked and the temperature began to quickly rise on the ice.
“There’s a couple of subtle instances that happened,” Carbery said. “When the score is what it is, it gets … and that’s where the refs, if they miss something, that’s where the players start policing themselves. Player safety becomes an issue and obviously guys are going to stick up more and more.”
The rough stuff began to approach critical mass about 12 minutes into the period and had the sellout crowd, which included Bettman, the NHL commissioner, transfixed with what was happening and what might come next.
Canes winger Seth Jarvis and the Caps’ Dylan Strome first exchanged penalties — Strome for roughing and slashing, Jarvis for roughing.
Things really started to heat up when Caps forward Tom Wilson cross-checked Canes defenseman Sean Walker in the back, knocking Walker to the ice behind the Caps net. The Canes’ Logan Stankoven quickly moved in to shove Wilson in the chest, then was jumped by Wilson and two other Caps players.
“I’m not looking to stir anything up, but I’m going to stand my ground and stand up for my teammates,” Stankoven said.
Stankoven stands about 5 feet, 8 inches and says he weighs 170 pounds. Wilson goes 6-4 and 225, and is one the NHL’s tough guys.
“That’s about as big a mismatch as there can be in the league, probably,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Give him credit. He hung in there and did his best.”
Stankoven and Wilson fought their way out of the scrum and continued to go at it until finally separated by the guys in stripes.
“I love that from ‘Stanky,’” Jarvis said. “He did a great job standing in there.
“That’s just no fear. That’s a big part of being a smaller guy in the NHL and there’s no bigger showcase than going against Tom Wilson.”
Wilson was handed a double minor for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct penalty, and was led to the gate by a referee, his night over. Stankoven was given a two-minute minor for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct, which he later said was his first since his junior hockey days.
There was a lot more to come. The Canes’ Mark Jankowski got into it with Nic Dowd, and Tyson Jost with the Caps’ Brandon Duhaime. Canes defenseman Jalen Chatfield dropped the gloves with Connor McMichael, slamming McMichael to the ice.
There were a number of players getting early showers.
“That’s hockey,” Jarvis said. “It’s fun, it’s competitive. At some point you just want to go home, but everybody is sticking up for each other and I’m really proud of the guys and how they handled that and not taking any stuff.”
And to think, the two teams play again next week in Washington, DC.
And if Ovechkin is still pursuing Gretzky’s record? Bettman will be there to see it — again.
