It was a bit of old school hockey in Game 3 between the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens as an on-ice brawl spilled into the players’ bench – complete with an official.
Montreal’s Cole Caufield scored to give his team the lead with eight seconds remaining. As the buzzer sounded, the Habs’ Mike Matheson took a shot at Washington’s Ryan Leonard. As the teams left their benches, more sparks began to fly.
The Caps’ Tom Wilson engaged Josh Anderson, the two players fighting their way on to the Washington bench — all while linesman Kyle Flemington was battling to keep them separately. Out on the ice, linesman Shandor Alphonso – looking like he was caught in a mosh pit – did his best to defuse things and avoid an all-out brawl.
When the dust settled, refs Francis Charron and Graham Skilliter handed out the penalties:
| Team | Player | Minutes | Penalty |
| WSH | T. Wilson | 2:00 | Roughing |
| WSH | T. Wilson | 10:00 | Misconduct |
| MTL | J. Anderson | 2:00 | Roughing |
| MTL | J. Anderson | 10:00 | Misconduct |
| WSH | L. Eller | 2:00 | Roughing |
| MTL | A. Xhekaj | 2:00 | Roughing |
With Wilson and Anderson given plenty of time to cool off, the situation was defused. The rest of the game was completed without incident.
The Montreal Canadiens went on to defeat the Capitals 5-3. Washington leads the best-of-seven series 2-1. Referees for the game were Francis Charron (#6) and Graham Skilliter (#24), with Kyle Flemington (#55) and Shandor Alphonso (#52) working the lines.
