PENGUINS STUMBLE AGAINST CAPITALS
Can’t score on four tries with extra man
WASHINGTON — Like a rabid raccoon who came barreling through the doggie door, Tom Wilson was in the middle of everything once again Thursday night.
The feisty Washington Capitals
winger, already one of the most hated opponents of Pittsburgh fans, left a mark on the Penguins in their 5-2 loss to the Capitals at Capital One Arena. He sent one of them to the locker room in the first period with a reckless play then buried the winning goal with 7:20 left in the third.
Wilson delivered his latest dangerous hit with about five minutes left in the first. Mark Jankowski had knocked the puck back into the zone at Washington’s blue line and was watching the play when Wilson approached him from his blind side.
Jankowski noticed Wilson late but either didn’t have time to react or expected him to let
up. He did not. He barreled into the big, defenseless Penguin, throwing his left shoulder into his chest. Jankowski’s head snapped back as he tumbled to the ice. Jankowski immediately reached for his head as he laid on the ice.
When Jankowski remained down in front of the penalty boxes, head athletic trainer Chris Stewart scurried across the ice to check him out. While Stewart did that, Wilson was barking from the box, loudly boasting, “Great [expletive] hit.”
The villainous Capitals winger then declared to whoever was listening that he thought his hit was only “two [expletive] milliseconds” late. But it came about one full second after Jankowski batted the puck back into the Washington zone.
“I just whacked the puck out of the air into their end and I just kind of turned,” the 6-foot-4, 212-pound center said. “I was about to go change. And I got hit.”
Speaking with reporters afterward, Wilson doubled down on his viewpoint.
“It was a great hit. … I finished him through the body right after [the puck was gone],” he said. “So I think that’s a great hockey play and I’ll watch the replay.”
Jankowski went to the dressing room, where he stayed for the rest of the period. He was back for the second.
Wilson was only assessed a minor penalty for interference. The Penguins after the game took the high road when asked about that hit and the referee’s ruling.
“It doesn’t matter,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “The referees are going to make the calls. They’re going to call it as they see it. We’re just going to play.”
Wilson could be subject to further discipline from the NHL’s Department of Player Safety, especially
given his track record. He has been suspended four times in his career and in 2018 was handed a 14-game ban for an illegal hit to the head.
One of those suspensions came in the 2018 playoffs after Wilson broke Zach Aston-Reese’s jaw and gave the winger a concussion with a high, illegal hit.
The Penguins, who have had other run-ins with Wilson, took umbrage to his hit on Jankowski. While Wilson was still in the box, Evgeni Malkin had words for him, at least one profane, during a stoppage in play. Moments later, Sam Lafferty and Wilson yapped at each other as they skated back to their respective benches.
The Penguins were unable to make Wilson pay on the scoreboard, though.
“As a power play, we’ve got to score one there,” Jake Guentzel lamented.
The Penguins were 0 for 4 on the power play, recording four total shots.
“We passed up opportunities to shoot the puck. … We had a significant amount of zone time but it didn’t translate into as many plays at the net,” Sullivan said.
Tempers cooled in the second. Then the Penguins mounted another comeback in the third, rallying from two goals down. But the Capitals clawed out a win.
T.J. Oshie made it 2-0 early in the third period with an impressive individual effort. Skating in 1-on-1 against Mike Matheson, the Capitals forward pulled the puck through the blue-liner then, while falling, poked it past Tristan Jarry.
Brandon Tanev scored his first short-handed goal of the season 64 seconds later to pull the Penguins back within one. He burst down the right wing, cut
across the offensive zone then whipped a shot between the legs of Vitek Vanecek.
Three minutes later, Jake Guentzel powered out of the right corner to tie it up.
But an untimely penalty taken by Drew O’Connor would tilt the game back into Washington’s favor. With the Capitals on their heels, the rookie hooked Evgeny Kuznetsov, giving another opportunity to one of the NHL’s top power plays.
With the Penguins already down a man, Kris Letang’s stick snapped. He did not bolt to the bench to get a new one nor did a forward on the ice hand him theirs. With Letang
scrambling around helplessly, Wilson whacked home the winner.
“We didn’t execute it. We obviously would have liked to get our defenseman a stick. It’s hard to defend the net front without a stick,” Sullivan said. “If somebody’s going to play without it, it has to be a forward in the higher ice.”
The Capitals added two empty-netters, one after Letang broke another stick.
Jarry made 30 saves but allowed two goals on seven shots in the third period.
The Penguins will continue their four-game road trip with back- to- back games against the New York Islanders Saturday and Sunday at Nassau Coliseum.