Backstrom lifts Caps
Center’s hat trick leads way; Wilson invites more scrutiny with hit
WASHINGTON— Thescene felt so familiar — the opposing player down on the ice as a referee escorted Tom Wilson off it. Two months ago to the day, Wilson leveled St. Louis’s Oskar Sundqvist and was ejected for an illegal check to the head. He didn’t see the ice again for another six weeks, suspended by the NHL Department of Player Safety for a fourth time in his career.
It cost the Washington Capitals forward the first 16 games of the season, and in his ninth contest back in the lineup, a hit in the second period of Friday night’s game against the New Jersey Devils, which the Capitals won, 6-3, thanks to Nicklas Backstrom’s hat trick, invited more scrutiny — and another early exit for Wilson.
With 2:21 left until intermission, Wilson hit Devils forward Brett Seney, who had his back turned, as he skated by him. Wilson was assessed a match penalty for an illegal check to the head, though the shoulder appeared to be the main point of contact.
Seney went back to the locker room for evaluation, and he returned for the start of the third period. But whether Wilson made contact with Seney’s head or not, the hit was unnecessary — Seney didn’t have the puck — and arguably a show of poor judgment for a player who’s a repeat offender and has vowed to stay out of the Department of Player Safety’s crossfires. His four suspensions in 105 games was considered an “unprecedented frequency,” and a match penalty means he’s automatically suspended for the next game, pending a review from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. In cases where there’s not supplemental discipline from the league, players are typically cleared to play right away.
The Capitals, however, argued that the penalty was undeserved and a result of Wilson’s reputation. Wilson was not made available for comment.
“I’m having a really tough time with this one because he isn’t even intend-
TV: ing to make a hit,” Coach Todd Reirden said. “It’s incidental contact, and he is following his defenseman down the wall, the player backs into him, he tries to get out of the way of the player, makes himself as small as possible, and there’s incidental contact. He’s not even attempting to make a hit, and we get a five-minute penalty that could’ve cost us the game. This guy is doing everything he can to try to play the right way, and this is how things are happening. It’s a tough situation. …
“I’m still trying to see how it’s a penalty. I think any other player, I don’t know if – it’s maybe an interference call. Maybe.”
The Department of Player Safety also saw the collision as interference rather than an illegal check to the head, according to a person familiar with the situation. Historically, suspensions for interference involve substantial head contact, and since there was none in this case, it’s unlikely the check will warrant a hearing. And while Wilson might have been trying to get out of the way of Seney, as Reirden argued, one league source said he could’ve made it more obvious.
“It was more kind of back of my shoulder,” Seney said. “I don’t know if he was intending to do it or what. I haven’t had the chance to look at it yet.”
Wilson had been smiling to start the second period. OnaNewJersey power play, Devils goaltender Keith Kinkaid misplayed the puck behind the net, and Wilson scooped up the turnover, scoring on a scrambling Kinkaid just eight seconds into the frame to lift Washington to 2-0 lead. He’s been an offensive force since returning to the lineup, scoring seven goals with six assists in his first nine games back.
Wilson’s hit overshadowed another impressive outing from the Capitals, who won their seventh straight. The win reversed a trend that had seen the Capitals scored upon first in all but one of those victories. And though the Capitals were winning, it remained a point of small frustration in the locker room.
Against the Devils, they started strong with Backstrom’s goal 3:51 into the game, and they eventually pulled away in the third, when Backstrom scored his second of the game on a five-on-three power play. He capped off the hat trick with an empty-netter in the final minute.