Wilson receives 3-game penalty
injury — which apparently happened to Brian Dumoulin the game before.
It also determined that Wilson made contact with Aston-Reese’s head, even though a few Capitals players thought Wilson got his shoulder. It did not address in any way Wilson laughing on the bench.
“Reverse angles show Wilson’s front shoulder making direct contact with the head of Aston-Reese,” the video says. “AstonReese’s head snaps backward, independently of his body, in a manner consistent with other illegal checks to the head.”
The video even addressed the idea of Wilson leaving his skates, which upset many fans.
“Players often extend upward or elevate their bodies through contact on hits as part of a natural hitting motion,” the video says. “While not illegal in and of itself, the onus is on the player to ensure that this upward motion does not pick the head in a way that makes it the main point of contact.
“Here, the combination of Wilson changing his angle of approach and unnecessarily extending upward causes Wilson to pick the head on a hit where head contact was avoidable.
“If Wilson wishes to deliver this hit, he must either maintain an angle of approach that hits through Aston-Reese’s shoulder and core, stay low to the ice in the execution of the hit, or ideally both.”
Without Wilson, the Capitals will have to find someone to play with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin. The top candidate appears to be Devante SmithPelly.
No change for Hagelin
Carl Hagelin changed out of the gray sweater he has been wearing the past couple days, but his status remains the same — he hasn’t played or taken contact since Game 6 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals because of an upper-body injury. At this point, it’s likely Hagelin will miss a fourth consecutive game Thursday. “I just go out there every day and take it day to day,” he said when asked whether he had a goal of when he’d like to return.
So-so self-assessment
Through three games in this series, goalie Matt Murray has given himself mixed reviews on his play for the Penguins. “I felt really good the first two games,” he said. “Shaky [Wednesday] night, but one save could’ve got the job done there at the end. Still right there, still feel pretty good overall.”
It’s hard to disagree with Murray’s assessment. He has made some big saves — particularly in Game 1 of the series to keep the Penguins in it — but Game 3 was not one of his better playoff performances. He allowed four goals on 22 shots, including one he would definitely like to have back from defenseman Matt Niskanen early in the third period.
The good news for Murray and the Penguins is that he rarely has bad back-toback postseason games. The only other time he has lost two consecutive playoff starts was Games 3 and 4 against in the final Nashville last year. He responded with back-to-back shutouts to win the Stanley Cup.