Canadiens’ Josh Anderson, Capitals’ Tom Wilson fined $5,000 for fighting on bench

The infraction occurred late in the second period of the game when Wilson and Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj got involved in a scrum. Anderson engaged with Wilson, and the two got into a fight, eventually spilling into the bench and continuing to throw punches off the ice.

Both players received two-minute minor penalties and 10-minute misconducts. The Canadiens went on to win the game 6-3.

While there is precedent for punishment when a player not on the ice hops on to join into an altercation, there isn’t nearly as much for players who were on the ice fighting off the ice. Ultimately, Anderson and Wilson receive a $5,000 for the incident, likely for the recklessness of the incident and potentially endangering the Capitals coaching staff, who were still on the bench during the fight.

Through the three games so far, Anderson has just one assist, getting it in the Canadiens’ lone goal in Game 2. He also had 15 goals and 12 assists for 27 points in 81 games in the regular season.

Wilson has been slightly more productive with two assists in the three games, getting one on the opening goal in Game 1 and the other on the empty net goal in Game 2. He was much more productive than Anderson in the regular season though, as he had 33 goals and 32 assists for 65 points in 81 games.

With the Canadiens winning in Game 3 amidst all the chaos, they’ve managed to cut the Capitals’ series lead to 2-1. Washington will look to put a stranglehold on the series, while Montreal will look to use home ice advantage again to get the series tied, when the two teams square off again on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. EST.