It takes a lot to chop down the giant redwood that is Tom Wilson, but, during the first period of the Flyers-Capitals game, Sean Couturier found a way.

And it was not legal.

As Wilson skated with the puck in the neutral zone, Couturier appears to throw a legal shoulder hit, knocking the burly winger off his skates.

But upon closer look, Couturier uses his stick as a weapon and strikes Wilson with the butt-end of his stick. This is butt-ending. You can’t do that.

Here’s a slo-mo look.

It appears Couturier elbows Wilson in the ribs and butt-ends him in the right thigh.

The play left Wilson writhing in pain on the ice. It took the first-line right wing about 10 seconds to retreat back to the bench.

There was no call on the play. According to the NHL rule book, Couturier could have been given a major penalty for connecting with a butt-end.

Tom would ultimately have the last laugh, staying in the game and scoring his 20th goal of the season in the second period.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Flyers

This article has been updated since publication.