Columbus Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent threw his own goalie under the net.
Goalie Elvis Merzlikins lost his cool during Thursday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Capitals when forward Tom Wilson — trying to punch home a round in the extra period — ended up inside the net himself.
Merzlikins tried to retrieve his stick from under Wilson and began throwing big punches at the trapped forward.
The goalie’s helmet eventually came off, and he attempted to chase Wilson while the referees defused the situation.
Merzlikins was given a two-minute penalty for roughing, giving Washington a 4-on-3 advantage, which Alex Ovechkin used to break a 15-game scoring drought and seal the win.
Vincent pointed to Merzlikins’ penalty as the reason the Blue Jackets fell to 11-17-6 on the night.
“Tom Wilson’s job is to get in people’s faces and get in the goalie’s face,” Vincent said. “He’s creating a lot of emotions. The emotions were high. (Wilson) did what he had to do, and we reacted. It cost us the game.”
Merzlikins said his fist of fury were the culmination of Wilson’s attempts to rattle him.
“I was trying to get my stick; I got punched in the head,” Merzlikins said, according to the AP. “Before that. I think he was trying to get me hurt. Enough — I’m going to defend myself. … He got what he deserved. I don’t care.”
Washington coach Spencer Carberry gave Wilson some props to go with his new bumps and bruises.
“You knew what was going on there,” Carbery said. “Merzlikins was trying to create an odd-man rush and get in his way subtly obviously, but for [Wilson] to hold his composure and draw the power play there, arguably you could say, was the difference in the game.”
It was a difference Ovechkin, who ended the longest scoring drought of his career, was happy to have.
“It’s been a while,” Ovechkin said. “I’ll take it.”
