Capitals winger Tom Wilson is notoriously a man out of time, an enforcer in an era that desperately tries to avoid enforcers. It seems like he's constantly in the news for one late hit or another. On Thursday his teammate Evgeny Kuznetsov was injured by a late hit from Avalanche defenseman Ian Cole in the third period, and to say that Wilson didn't take it well would be the understatement of the year. Wilson absolutely obliterated Cole in a fight in retaliation.
Moral of the story: If Wilson looks like he's going to drop the gloves, skate away whistling. This is Wilson's fifth fight of the season (he also got into one in the preseason), and if you ask the likes of Robert Bortuzzo, Jamie Oleksiak and Austin Watson, it's not fun. Bortuzzo at least exacted some revenge with a more closely matched fight later in the season, but the Wild's Marcus Foligno is the only other player to even come close to getting some licks in.
In any case, if you're the Capitals, Wilson is a phenomenal teammate. He plays incredibly angry, and he'll drop the gloves if someone looks at his teammate the wrong way. Kuznetsov is behind the play, Cole catches that and reroutes to give Kuznetsov a shoulder, Cole gets beaten up for it. Wilson, who signed six-year contract worth $31 million before this season, was already suspended for 14 games earlier in the year for an illegal blow to the head. in the same preseason game he fought Bortuzzo in for the first time.
