from Neil Best of Newsday,

So, what happened? The real story figures to unfold over time.

But the fact it followed a series of recent humiliations surely did not help, the nadir coming on Monday when the Capitals’ Tom Wilson threw around and/or pummeled various Rangers, who seemed powerless to respond.

The league did not help with its inadequate $5,000 fine and non-suspension of Wilson, which led directly to at an embarrassing, 1970s-style spectacle early in Wednesday night’s rematch at the Garden, which the Capitals won, 4-2.

There were six fights in the first five minutes, three at the drop of the puck. The first time Wilson came onto the ice, Brendan Smith went after him. There were 100 minutes of penalties assessed in the first period, 141 overall.

"I thought that it should have been handled before this game and it wasn’t," Smith said later, "so unfortunately it had to be kind of on my shoulders, and I thought I took it."

Said Ryan Strome, who had a rare fight, too, "We felt the need to take matters into our own hands a little bit and I thought it was a great response, really showed a lot from our team . . . My only wish was that the Garden was full to be rockin’ after what happened the first five minutes."

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THREE HARD LAPS

* The Jets blanked the Flames and became the third Scotia North Division team to clinch a berth in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

* Marc-Andre Fleury passed Roberto Luongo for sole possession of third place on the NHL’s all-time wins list, while Anze Kopitar had an assist to reach the 1,000-point milestone.

* The League-leading Hurricanes look to match their longest point streak in franchise history as the club continues to pursue its first-ever Presidents’ Trophy.