Some say revenge is a dish best served cold. Others say living well is the best revenge. What about “beating someone in a fight, then doing an obnoxious-brilliant eagle goal celebration?”
OK, that doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but that last route was the one the Washington Capitals chose in a 4-3 OT win against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.
The most memorable span began in the third period. First, Avs defenseman Ian Cole delivered a highly questionable hit on star Caps center Evgeny Kuznetsov. Tom Wilson did not take kindly to that hit, so he “rained rights” on Cole. Like, a lot of rights.
NBC Sports Washington has footage of the hit and the one-sided fight.
Willy didn't like that Cole hit on Kuzy ONE. BIT. pic.twitter.com/Eo5DZfFzNG
— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) February 8, 2019
Kuznetsov went through concussion protocol, and at the moment, seems to be fine. He was certainly feeling good when he not only returned to the contest, but scored the OT-winner, and did his trademark cele:
Kuzy on the break... for the win! #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/WWj2i3S86H
— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) February 8, 2019
If that didn’t sting Cole enough, Kuznetsov burned him big time after the game in giving his take on the check.
“I don’t know why he decided to make that hit,” Kuznetsov said, via the Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan. “Maybe he was so mad he was playing in the D-zone all game. When you get tired, you get frustrated a little bit.”
Kuznetsov also provided a great line about going through concussion protocol. He’s almost as good at providing quips as he is at making plays.
(In case you’re wondering, the Avs actually generally won the possession battle, and Cole only looked bad relative to his teammates, at least going by Natural Stat Trick’s numbers. But, come on, a saucy zinger doesn’t always need to be accurate, right?)
This was Wilson’s fifth fight of 2018-19, by the way. Cole ... should probably avoid fighting people like Wilson, if possible. Just a friendly suggestion.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.