Tom Wilson seems to insinuate Lightning tried to have Curtis Douglas ambush him: 'Bit of a weird line change, and all of a sudden, we're in a fight'

"Tom Wilson got into just his second fight of the season against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night. While Wilson wasn't the one who started the bout, he definitely was the one to finish it. Lightning forward Curtis Douglas, who stands 6-foot-9 and weighs in at 242 pounds, instigated the fisticuffs and quickly learned why one should not do that with Wilson."

"What seemed somewhat innocuous at first may have more reasoning behind it than once thought. "He came over the boards, bit of a weird line change, and all of a sudden, we're in a fight," Wilson said. "It is what it is." What Wilson seems to be insinuating is that the Lightning bench purposefully sent out a different line to start the shift and then quickly swapped out one of their forwards for Douglas so that he could jump Wilson."

"Jake Guentzel, who was on the ice for the faceoff right before the fight, cut his shift incredibly short. After being on the ice for just six seconds, Guentzel took off for the bench, being replaced by Douglas. Douglas beelined for Wilson, unconcerned about the ongoing play behind him. The Lightning may have been seeking retribution for a hit that Wilson threw on Nikita Kucherov earlier in the period. Kucherov departed the game injured and did not return."

Tom Wilson engaged in his second fight of the season against Tampa Bay's Curtis Douglas, a 6-foot-9, 242-pound forward who instigated the bout. Wilson took Douglas down, tossed his helmet, and glared at the Lightning bench. Shift-chart evidence suggests a deliberate line change, with Jake Guentzel cutting a six-second shift and being replaced by Douglas, who immediately targeted Wilson. The sequence may have been retribution for a hit on Nikita Kucherov, who left the game injured. Douglas logged only eight shifts, and Wilson later hit Guentzel after the whistle late in regulation.

Read at RMNB