MONTREAL — The NHL has punished the main combatants in a bench-clearing altercation in Friday night’s playoff game between the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals.Capitals forward Tom Wilson and Canadiens forward Josh Anderson were each fined $5,000 by the league.It’s the maximum allowable under the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement.Wilson and Montreal defenseman Arber Xhekaj were pushing and shoving each other as time expired in the second period.Anderson intervened before falling backward into Washington’s bench, which had a door open.The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Wilson followed the 6-foot-3, 226-pound Anderson in and charged through a linesman toward the Canadiens winger before a roaring crowd at Bell Centre.Both Anderson and Wilson were assessed a minor penalty for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct for the fight.Their fine money goes to the players’ emergency assistance fund.

The NHL Department of Player Safety announced Saturday that two players, once each from the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens, will be punished for the events that took place in Game 3 between the two franchises.

Aliaksei Protas could return for Game 4 against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Sunday (6:30 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TBS, truTV, MNMT, MAX). The Capitals lead the Eastern Conference First Round best-of-7 series 2-1.