Washington's Tom Wilson was fined but not suspended for his actions during a post-whistle scrum in New York, an outcome the Capitals are ready to move on from and the Rangers feel isn't sufficient punishment for one of hockey's most polarizing players.
The NHL fined Wilson $5,000 Tuesday for roughing Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich during the second period of a game Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
The fine is the maximum allowable for the incident under the collective bargaining agreement, and Wilson was not disciplined for throwing Artemi Panarin to the ice moments later.
New York's Ryan Strome called it a 鈥渏oke鈥� and said he thought 鈥渢he league missed one here big time.鈥� The team's statement was even stronger, calling Wilson's
鈥淲ilson is a repeat offender with a long history of these type of acts and we find it shocking that the NHL and their Department of Player Safety failed to take the appropriate action and suspend him indefinitely,鈥� the Rangers said.
鈥淲ilson鈥檚 dangerous and reckless actions caused an injury to Artemi Panarin that will prevent him from playing again this season. We view this as a dereliction of duty by NHL Head of Player Safety, George Parros, and believe he is unfit to continue in his current role.鈥�
Wilson was given a double-minor penalty for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct. The fine represents 0.12% of Wilson's $4.1 million salary for this season.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the discipline that鈥檚 sent down from the league, and Tom will pay it and we鈥檒l move on,鈥� said Capitals coach Peter Laviolette, who after the game called it a physical play that "happens a lot."
鈥淚t looked like they were jamming at the goalie and Tom punched him in the top of the shoulder area and then punched him somewhere on the backside as he鈥檚 trying to get in there and pull him off and received the roughing penalty," Laviolette added. "After that, he had a couple guys jump on his back and there was a big scrum that went on and ensued from there."
Panarin was ruled out of the remainder of the game with what the team called a lower-body injury. Coach David Quinn said Panarin would miss the final three games of the Rangers season and confirmed the injury came from the incident with Wilson, which won't cause the 27-year-old Capitals forward to miss any time.
鈥淭o me, anybody in hockey 鈥� certainly everybody in our organization 鈥� is very disappointed,鈥� Quinn said. "We certainly thought it warranted a suspension. We鈥檙e just really disappointed. A line was crossed: Guy didn鈥檛 have his helmet on, vulnerable, he got hurt. To me, it was an awful lot there to suspend him.鈥�
This is Wilson's third fine in eight NHL seasons, and he has been suspended five times. The most recent suspension was seven games in March for boarding Boston's Brandon Carlo.
When suspending him for the hit on Carlo, the league's department of player safety called Wilson 鈥渁 player with a substantial disciplinary record taking advantage of an opponent who is in a
鈥淗e鈥檚 big, he鈥檚 strong and when he gets into scrums and he wrestles, (I told him), 鈥榊ou鈥檝e got to be careful鈥� because, I think, with the attention on him, he gets looked at in a certain way,鈥� Laviolette said. "He has to play his game, he has to be hard to play against, he has to be physical, but in the same sense he鈥檚 got to know that eyes are on him, as well.鈥�
Wilson had a clean record for the previous 2 1/2 years, going back to a 20-game suspension in the fall of 2018 for an illegal check to the head of St. Louis forward Oskar Sundqvist. That initially carried a $1.26 million fine, and it was reduced to 14 games by an independent arbitrator after appeal, though Wilson had already served 16 games.
The Capitals and Rangers play again Wednesday night. Quinn was noncommittal about calling up an enforcer for the game, but said he knew how his team would respond.
鈥淎s players, you want the league to have your back in those situations, and I think a lot of guys in our dressing room just feel like they didn鈥檛," Strome said. "This is a non-hockey-related play. And he鈥檚 a big, strong guy. I鈥檓 sure he鈥檇 answer the bell, but I just think in a situation that鈥檚 not related to play, I think it鈥檚 the league鈥檚 responsibility 鈥� not necessarily guys policing it on the ice.鈥�
NOTES: Laviolette said captain Alex Ovechkin is 鈥渦nlikely鈥� to play Wednesday night. Ovechkin skated only 39 seconds Monday night before leaving the game. He missed the previous four games with a lower-body injury, and the team's focus is making sure Ovechkin is good to go for the playoffs. Laviolette said the Capitals are 鈥渨orking through things inside the room" on the status of
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Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press
