Washington Captials forward Tom Wilson said his fight with Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Jamie Oleksiak in the first period of Wednesday's game was follow-up for his hit on Zach Aston-Reese during the playoffs. Wilson added, however, that Oleksiak is a player he respects and said it was "unfortunate" to see him injured in the fight. 

Wilson and Oleksiak dropped the gloves just 55 seconds into the Penguins 2-1 win on Wednesday after Oleksiak hit two Capitals along the boards. Oleksiak fell to the ice after a taking a right hook from Wilson and needed assistance to return to the bench. He did not return to the game and Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan had no update on his status afterwards.

"I think it probably had to be done sooner or later, give him a chance to defend his teammate, what happened last year," Wilson said, per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "Obviously you never want to see a guy go down like that, but that's hockey. I respect him as a player. It's unfortunate to see that."

Wilson broke Aston-Reese's jaw on a hit in Game 3 of the second-round series between the two teams in May. The Capitals forward received a three-game suspension for the hit and returned in the conference finals after the Captials defeated the Penguins in six games. 

Wednesday's game marked the third contest between the two teams this season, but Wilson missed the first two while serving his 14-game suspension for a preseason hit on St. Louis Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist

The Capitals forward said taking on Oleksiak had nothing to do with Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford's off-season comments that Wilson "couldn’t run quick enough to get away" from Oleksiak in the minutes following his hit on Aston-Reese.

"It doesn't really matter I don't think," Wilson said. "Oleksiak plays tough. He's a big part of their team. He came out pretty aggressive right on the first shift there. He went a long way to make that hit. Right when we looked at each other, it was on. That's hockey."

Sullivan said the Penguins players gave Oleksiak, "a rousing applause after the game, and he deserved it." 

Oleksiak, 25, has four goals and 11 points in 32 games this season while averaging 16:02 of ice time.